Growing up in the seventies, my best memories were kindled annually in mid-July. That’s when my brother and I headed north to Hayward from central Illinois with our aunt and uncle for two weeks of Northwoods fishing. The worst memory, plainly stated, was leaving.
We fished Nelson Lake and the river that exited the lake and formed the Totogatic Flowage. One of the families we met each year stayed in a nearby cabin. While we hung out with the two kids, it was really their dad, Ed, who created the most magical of memories involving one very big northern pike.
The year before Ed’s memorable catch, I thought I had caught my own memory but lost the large pike at the boat. I hooked the fish on my spinning rod, and skillfully brought it boatside despite the drag being set too tight. When the net touched the northern’s back, it initiated a “no surrender” reaction from the pike. That fish must have tail-walked 20 feet across the surface, and was gone.
A year later, Ed tangled with a true heavy weight, and won the battle. We returned from a trip to town to discover the local commotion naturally stirred by a special catch. Ed had scored on a 13 and one-half pound summer northern that for young boys resembled a monster come to life. The pike had fallen to an injured minnow sporting three treble hooks.
Ed was a knowledgeable fisherman who knew the lures and tactics that would entice strikes on more than just northerns, with a willingness to pass his “secrets” on to generations of students like my brother and me. Nelson was also a good walleye lake and Ed targeted the fish in June each year.
During our stay, Ed taught us how to target walleye and introduced us to the blue and white Canadian Jig Fly. He used this excellent walleye jig routinely with success, and showed us how to retrieve it. The fish we caught on Nelson were our first walleyes on jigs, thanks to Ed.
Though this happened more than fifty years ago, I’ll never forget those days. Often, dreams on the water are made when people who were passed down “secrets” are willing to pass them down again to next-generation students. The ultimate reward are the memories that simply never end.
Who is waiting to watch, learn and cherish what you know?
