The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Editor: As a school kid I lived in the small town of Starbuck, Minnesota, on the west end of a nine mile lake called Minnewaska. On the east end of the lake was the town of Glenwood. With freeze up it seemed the greater part of the population moved their fishing shacks out on the ice. The fish there consisted of walleyes, jackfish, and perch. There were at least 3,000 shacks from one end to the other end of the lake. I moved to Flin Flon in 1955. There was not a fishing shack around these parts then. I suggested to a couple of my friends we do some ice fishing. I was called a "tourist" when I suggested that. I talked them into going their share on enough 1/4" plywood to build a fish shack put together with screw eyes and hooks, with a roof to block out all lights. We had no ice augers in those days so we cut our holes with a needle bar. In about seven to eight feet of depth and with the clear water in these parts, we had no trouble seeing our baits. We could witness our fish taking the bait so we knew when to set the hook. Ice fishing became real popular in short order. By the end of winter there were two or three more shacks set up. The following winter there were lots of fish shacks around these parts. It has become a very popular sport here abouts. It is quite an inexpensive sport available to all and lots of fun. All you need is a fishing license and a bit of gear, and shack to guard against the elements. Have a great time in our winter season. - Steve Person
