Fabulous Finish to our Fall Trip Part 3

While laying in bed waiting to fall asleep (you don’t have to wait long with all the fresh air) I though what can tomorrow possibly bring? We have had two spectacular days in a row what can…

I woke early thinking it might be another early morning of good camera light, coffee, and an excursion to a close bay for fall colors. Rick was up too and decided to join me. We drove a couple hundred yards and put my MinnKota trolling motor down and probed our way into a bay that had a couple different inlets, a creek with a beaver dam and just started admiring the beauty.  The rising soft sun was just turning the landscape into an absolute heaven.

  

Rick and I returned to the Lady of the Lake and breakfast was waiting; how sweet! We left the houseboat to do some more fishing, and the weather was still incredible. Low and behold the Vikings game came on the radio.  I was not long before we decided to go in and have a little Rainy Lake tailgate party.

More fun; the Vikings pulled off a 20-13 victory over the Detroit Lions. We hung out a while longer enjoying the beach and nature before we pulled out for a new location on our last night. A very tranquil frog showed up in the shallow water right next to the Lady of the Lake. He (or she) wanted to be a star! I don't know who was more relaxed Jon Hakala or the frog.

  

The lines were undone, the Lund Pro V’s were tied on and we were off for another cruise, this time back toward Rainy Lake Houseboat's base.  My thought was to cruise down Kempton Channel, back through Brule Narrows and find a nice spot to moor on our last night.

Kempton Channel

We found a perfect spot to spend our last night together. The location was absolutely perfect, we would have a sunset on the west side of the houseboat and a full moon rise on the east side of the boat and both of them occurring almost simultaneously. How often does that happen?

 Incredible sunsets on the west side of the houseboat!

Tremendous full moon rise for our last hight on Rainy Lake.

People decide to go on a houseboat trip for a wide variety of reasons, a family outing, a gathering of friends or family, a getaway with your loved one, a fishing trip, a bachelor or bachelorette party, and many others. We gathered to celebrate a lost friends life, Guy LaFrance.  We left port with an air of sadness, and loss. Gathering with friends and talking about Guy, laughing at many of the stories, and remembering what a great person Guy was has helped ease the pain.  We are grateful for the friendships and realize how important it is to keep friendships alive. Our friendships with Pat, Rick and Jon go back forty-five and fifty years. Cathie and I are very thankful and lucky to have those relationships. We miss you Guy!

Sport Show season is in Full Swing

The last half of February will be a busy month for Rainy Lake Houseboats at sport shows in Duluth MN, Minneapolis MN and Omaha Nebraska.

The Duluth Sport and Travel Show opens on Wednesday February 15 thru Sunday February 17^th. The hours are as follows 5:00 PM- 10:00 Pm Wednesday and Thursday, 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM Friday and Saturday, and Sunday 11:00 AM- 5:00 PM Sunday. Joe Dougherty will be in booth #110 Wednesday thru Sunday.

Rainy Lake Houseboats will be at the 2013 National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic February 15, 16, and 17^th. Tom and Bill Dougherty will be in booth 1135 & 1234 all three days. You not only get a chance to see what one of the great environmental stewards is doing to create and protect sensitive habitat, but also a chance to visit about this years outing on a Rainy Lake Houseboat! Show hours are Friday February 15 1:00- 8:30 PM, Saturday February 16 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM Sunday February 17 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM.

Bill and Joe Dougherty will be in booth #1337 at the Omaha Nebraska Boat Sport and Travel Show Thursday February 21, 22, 23, &24.  Show hours are Thursday 5:00 – 9:00 PM, Friday 12:00 – 9:00 PM, Saturday 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM, and Sunday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Bill we be giving a seminar about houseboating on Rainy Lake Friday at 3:00 PM, Saturday at 7:00 PM, and Sunday at 3:00 PM.

We hope to see you at the shows!

  

Fall Trip Part 2

I was up making coffee before the sun rose on Saturday morning. Rainy Lake looked like it was going for the spectacular mode. I enjoy taking pictures maybe even more than guiding.  I grabbed a cup of coffee and  my camera and hopped onto the beach and it was oh my god!

A deer had walked down the beach during the night; the colors were absolutely breathtaking, making Idle Hour Bay seem like something out of a fantasy book. Rainy Lake was flat calm without a ripple. The beach, water and peaking colors sent this photographer’s adrenalin on the rise. Breakfast was going to be delayed.  It looked like we were going to have one of the most beautiful days anyone could ask for.

The girls gave a shout “time for breakfast!” After breakfast we went fishing on a walleye fisherman’s dream -  flat calm water.  Who cares! The mood was set, Rainy Lake providing beautiful vistas, the shorelines flaming with colors and temperatures around 70 degrees in the morning. Throw in a few walleyes and a great morning was complete.

We pulled back into the Lady of the Lake where Cathie and Pat were lounging in the hot tub on the roof. A call down of  “how does a Bloody Mary sound?" was met with s unanimous "yes" from our boat.

Sitting on the roof enjoying our libation brought back memories of a houseboat trip on Labor Day weekend  in 1978 or 1979 with Guy, his wife Linda, Gary and Julie Hockin, myself and friend Cress Masseth.  We had sunny weather but it got windy for a couple of days. Back then I was fishing with a S-18 Lund Boat, not the fancy boats of today.

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We wanted a walleye dinner so I told the gang I had a secret spot that only big walleyes roamed. I would go try it but it was too windy for them to come along.  I did not tell them I was going to Loren Erickson’s: a commercial fisherman who lived south of Rabbit Island.  My grandparents purchased walleyes from Loren to serve at their world famous Kettle Falls Hotel. The walleyes he caught were usually from 19-21 inches long. Loren would catch the odd really big ones, but restaurants and commercial fish buyers would not buy these. I asked Loren if he had any freshly caught big ones.  He had four from 6-9 lbs. that I got as I told him what I was up to. Loren was laughing as I put them on a stringer, tied them to my boat and put them in the water. The fish were cold from being on ice so I had to warm them up to make it believable that I had caught them.

It took me a while to get back to the houseboat. When the crew saw the fish they went nuts. It was still very windy and I said it was too rough to go out. I will cook them tonight and if the wind is down we will go to the spot in the morning. Guess what the wind was down in the morning.  Guy was ready to go. I was worried 6-9 pounders just don’t grow on trees. We went to a reef and dropped down our jigs and minnows. We were not there ten minutes and Guy says I got one. It looked like a good fish, I thought northern for sure.  I get the net, Guy gets the fish close to the surface and I scoop it up. I can’t believe it Guy has at least a seven pound walleye. He was so tickled. He put the jig down and gets another good fish on. It was the same kind of battle as the last one, fish digging for the bottom and taking line. Up comes a six pound walleye, I net the walleye.   I cannot believe what has happened. I said to Guy  “we have to leave this spot; it is secret and I don’t want anybody to see us here."

The day turned out beautiful. We started back and stopped at Wind Mill rock and jigged by the green marker buoy. The walleyes were snapping, we caught two limits while barbecuing.   I did not tell Guy about the trip to Loren Erickson’s until just a few years ago. We had a good laugh.

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After lunch and stories we went back out for more fishing. It got hot, close to eighty, no wind, but the fish did bite.  We had dinner and looked over the tree line to the east and a full moon was on the rise.  Time to go up top and hot tub and enjoy the spectacular setting . The night could not have been more beautiful. 

Losing a Close Friend Hurts

Losing a Close Friend Hurts

My wife Cathie and I learned on May 24, 2012 that my friend Guy LaFrance passed away in Loveland Colorado. Sadly Guy took his own life shocking us all. Guy’s parents Buzz and Gloria lived in International Falls along with my parents. We all moved to Hoyt Lakes about the same time in 1958. Guy and I were childhood friends, we lived only ten houses away from each other on Arlington Road.

Once we were old enough for school I found out Guy would be going to the Anna Keefe Grade School and I would be going to Boese School. I was not very accepting of this at kindergarten age but managed.  We played sports together as youths and on into high school. We had a lot of fun growing up together, maybe a little too much at times. Guy’s parents moved to Aurora, MN and built a home across from the White Community Hospital. Hoyt Lakes and Aurora are five miles apart with the high school for both towns in Aurora.

Aurora-Hoyt Lakes was a wonderful place to grow up. Friendships were close and long lasting.  Guy always had a smile and an easy laugh. A loving person, he was so in love with Linda, almost made a fishing and hunting nut like me jealous. I always wondered if I would ever meet a gal that would that would spur my loving feelings. I am thankful to the lord for that did happen to me, my wife Cathie and I are in our 32^nd year of marriage.

I was not able to attend Guy’s memorial service in Aurora. A  Norm Westerhold a friend and customer from Chicago passed away on October 6, 2011. Norm's wife Sue sent some of his ashes to be spread on one of his favorite Rainy Lake haunts with his fishing partners on their annual Rainy Lake Houseboat trip. Guy's and Norm's Memorials were scheduled on the same day. I have to say it was one of the toughest days I have experienced two close friends lives being celebrated but not being at both was extremely difficult.

Not having closure is a very difficult situation to overcome. I gave a lot of thought about the close friendships I have with the guys who grew up in Aurora, and how lucky I am to have those. I thought what a better way to spend some time together, talk and laugh about Guy than to get together and toast Guy.  I called Pat Bloomfield and the planning began to gather together on a houseboat and spend three days at the end of September with our high school friends Rick Erickson, Jon Hakala and their wives.

I will write about the trip in three segments, it was an experience to be shared with all as the man looking down upon us gave us a time to be treasured forever. 

Rick and Jane Erickson, Jon and Joanne Hakala, Pat and Pat Bloomfield met us at Rainy Lake Houseboats on Friday morning September 28th. We loaded the houseboat with our belongings and were quickly on our way up Rainy Lake.

The colors were beautiful, the weather fairly sunny, a very pretty back drop on the way up the lake.

  Pat Bloomfield

Pat Bloomfield, Jane Erickson, Rick Erickson, Cathie Dougherty

Jon Hakala

We drove through Brule narrows, took a route down through Kempton Channel and moored at Idle Hour Bay.

Idle Hour Bay Houseboat mooring site

After landing we had enough time to go enjoy the remainder of the afternoon with a little fishing excursion on the reefs near Blueberry Island. The afternoon turned absolutely spectacular, warm weather, totally flat water, and some decent fishing.

Rick photographing Jon and Joanne

Joanne did not take long to match Jon's walleye!

Time flies on Rainy Lake, it was time to head in for some supper and a little happy hour.  Beer can chickens were on the menu supper.

Rick checking out the chickens!

As Commander Cody said "Nobody here but us chickens"

Kettle Falls Tales From Our Past

I started guiding at my grandfather's Kettle Falls Hotel when I was nine years old. Our family started going up every weekend when I was even younger to help my mother's parents Charlie and Blanche Williams. Opening the hotel each spring was a highly anticipated event.

One of our favorite true stories was about a massive bear that was breaking into the back porch and kitchen of the hotel.

My Grampa Charlie had a man helping him open up the hotel by the name of Enos Good. This bear would come at night and raid the back porch looking for whatever food he could find. Some of the supplies arrived and were stored. We used to buy the eggs by the gross in a large box. Grandpa always woke first and would start breakfast frying bacon with eggs and brew a large pot of egg coffee. When he went out to the back porch all of the eggs had been eaten. The bear barely broke a shell sucking the eggs out of the shell. He even poked holes in the shell and got the egg whites and yolks out without breaking the egg.

Grandpa was not happy. In the porch was a propane Servel refrigerator right next to the kitchen door. The next morning grandpa came down to the kitchen and went to the back porch and found the refrigerator door ripped out and most of the food eaten. This was unbelievable  because the bear did not open the door with the handle. It got its claws between the door and the frame and forced the door off from the hinge side.  Grandpa had enough and decided something had to be done about the bear. He was obviously very strong and fearless.

Garndpa Charlie and Enos decided some one had to sit up at night in the dark kitchen with the door open, a loaded 30-30 Winchester rifle and a flashlight. Some one had to shoot the bear. Enos got the first shift.  Grandpa was sleeping in room number five right at the top of the stairs.  Grandpa heard a shot, not sure what time it was but hopped out of bed and went down the stairs, ran through the kitchen looking for Enos. He could hear a racket in the back porch but not Enos.  Grandpa could hear something on the floor, it was totally dark, he whispered "Enos where are you?" "I am under the table I lost the damn light and it rolled somewhere under the table". They could still hear the noise in the back porch which was the bear expiring. He was one large black bear probably over 500 lbs. I remember going to see that bear and had never seen any bear even close to that size and we had lots of bears on the island at Kettle Falls.