Ice fishing adventure brings fatherly wisdom

My only son Marc lives in Mankato; he is a wonderful father. His wife, Shannon, is a wonderful mother. Together they are busy raising four boys between the ages of 10 and 18. Shannon is a real go-getter. She always makes sure things are fair in determining the boys' activities. She is super organized, always sees life as an adventure for everyone, always preaches a “can-do attitude” to all of her family. Shannon is definitely the captain of “Team Zika” as I like to refer to the family. Team Zika doesn't refer to me as Dave, Grandpa, or Grandpa Dave. They call me P.P.D., Papa Dave. I really like it.

Everyone knows that ice fishing in southern Minnesota this winter was a complete bust. I'd gotten my youngest grandson Nathan a Vexilar brand sonar, fish finder, depth finder for Christmas. With basketball most weekends and little ice, he really hadn't gotten a chance to use it to enhance his ice fishing experience. Walleye season here ended in February, but it stays open through April on Lake of the Woods, a giant lake located in Minnesota’s “Northwest Angle.” A window opened up for me to take Marc and Nathan to the big lake the first week of March. It would be a power trip to Bayview Lodge with two nights lodging and two days fishing in an ice house. What a joy, a fishing trip with my son and young grandson.

Lisa and I raised our family just like Team Zika. Lisa was our family captain and we were always busy seven days a week. Since we are several years retired now, life has really slowed down. I have too much time now to worry about the little things and what tomorrow will bring.

I was over at Mankato West watching grandson Evan play his last B-squad basketball game of the season. We'd be leaving early Saturday morning for Lake of the Woods and Marc checked the weather on his cell phone. The forecast for our destination called for 40-mile-an-hour wind, freezing rain and snow in the afternoon. I commented, “Looks bad, maybe we should cancel.” Marc and Shannon both looked at me and Marc said “Don't worry PPD, it'll be okay: We are going fishing.” I received a call after supper on Friday evening from Marc, “Dad, would it be okay if Ryan went on the trip with us?” Ryan is my 13-year-old grandson and a great fisherman. “Gee Marc, I don't think we have room for another rider and more equipment in the Ford Edge.” Marc replied, “Don't worry PPD it'll be okay.” Marc packed the Edge to its fullest on Saturday morning. I was full of joy: Another grandson had been added to the trip.

The seven-hour drive to the resort went smoothly…until we hit the 60-mile stretch from Red Lake to Baudette. The highway was coated with ice and snow: I was driving in a mini white out. Marc said “Don't worry PPD, just slow down, take your time, it'll be okay.” We arrived safely at the resort, checked in, had a great supper, then went to bed early in anticipation of our sunrise exit to the cozy fish house waiting for us on the lake.

We had been informed our fish house was 11 miles out on Lake of the Woods; we had our map in hand. We had purchased four scoops of chub minnows in Baudette. The grannies were awed by the sales lady at the bait store; she was dressed in a halter top and had a real pistol and holster buckled around her waist. We entered Adrain's lake access at 7 a.m. Across Pine Island we went and entered the plowed roadway a couple of miles out onto the big lake. I've fished Lake of the Woods many times, but this time it was different. Most of the resorts had moved their houses closer to shore, but Bayview houses were still 11 miles out. We followed the tiny road straight out with 40-mile-per-hour winds out of the east and blowing snow. I began losing sight of the road, bottoming out in my Ford Edge; the big lake was becoming a total whiteout at 8 miles from shore. Marc agreed we had to turn around and head back–wherever that was! Marc said to me, “Relax PPD, we'll get back; it'll be okay.” I was relieved to see rows of houses through the blowing snow closer to shore.

We came upon the Bayview plow truck heading out to the houses. “Sorry guys, we didn't know it was blowing like this out on the ice. Follow me out, I'll plow you a path right to your house.” My grannies said to me, “Follow him out PPD, let's fish; it'll be okay.”

Perhaps you’re familiar with some of the old adages about weather and fishing, the ones they share on the TV shows. “Don't go fishing when the wind switches direction to the east; fish bite least,” or “A drop in temperature and a big change in weather shut down fishing.”

Forget all that. Our fishing was fantastic. Ryan caught many nice-sized walleye and sauger as usual. Nathan used his new Vexilar to jig and catch beautiful fish for the bucket, fishing like a veteran. The best bite came from noon to 1 p.m.: Fish aren't supposed to bite then. Marc and PPD watched the boys put ten keeper fish in the bucket as we enjoyed our hoagie sandwich. We had our four-person limit and packed up to head in at 3:30.

Another change in the weather, very windy and rain. Suddenly our snow-bound fish house was sitting in a pool of water. The road going in was a river of water and slush. Going across Pine Island was difficult: we almost got stuck in mud and ruts several times. Marc said, “Don't complain, we won't get stuck or go through the ice. PPD it'll be okay.” We got back to our cozy cabin, cleaned some smaller fish for supper, and hung our clothes up to dry. Even Marc said fishing didn't look good for the next day.

After supper there was a knock at the door, it was the Bayview guy who asked, “Are you going fishing tomorrow?” PPD replied, “There was water all over the ice, must be a ton of weight. We had trouble navigating the mud crossing Pine Island. It seemed like we were the only SUV driving on Lake of the Woods. The wind is also changing direction, it’s reached  40 mph out of the west.

He checked his cell phone, then contradicted every one of my points: “Rain is ending, down to 15 degrees tonight, it will be easy going across the frozen mud of Pine Island and the lake will be frozen like a brand new highway. There is anywhere from 20 to 26 inches of good ice out there; besides you came a long way to fish with your family.” Marc, Nathan and Ryan all said to me “Let's go fishing, don't worry PPD it'll be okay.”

Bayview let us keep our belongings in the cabin, we could settle the bill and pack up when we came off the lake from fishing. The ride across Pine Island was easy and there was a runway of clear frozen ice all the way to our fish house. We now had the chance to replace the nine smaller fish we'd eaten for supper with larger ones to take home. The wind was blowing 40 mph and had switched to the west. We had a mix of nine beautiful sauger and walleye by 11 a.m. As we were packing up to leave the ice house, Ryan's bobber went down, the last fish of the trip. Ryan set the hook and had on a big one, a really big one. He played the fish perfectly, it was a huge walleye, and it was a struggle turning the head to get it through the hole. The big fish made a final run and broke the line. Ryand had done everything right, he'd played it perfectly. The young fisherman was crushed and disappointed. There was the sound of silence the first seven miles driving back in. PPD broke the solemn mood: “Ryan, you are a great fisherman; you will have the opportunity to catch many big walleyes; it'll be okay.”