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View Full Version : Memory Lane - 50 years ago



Musky Mauler
04-23-2012, 11:00 AM
C:\Users\owner\Pictures\2012-02-19\Old Log INN.jpg

Wonder how many readers remember The Old Log Inn? "Mile One" now sits on this location. Back in "the good old days" Earl and Elsie Tomek held court at this establishment. In addition to tending bar, Earl was a musky guide. I fished muskies with him on Moose Lake, Butternut Lake, the Flowage and English Lake - - the latter being where I caught my first legal-sized musky. We must have had 15-20 follows that day. Finally, one decided to latch onto my lure. Earl kept a .22 pistol in his tackle box that was absent the front sight. I got the fish up next to the boat and I was surprised to hear, "BANG!"

He said, "They've made fools of us enough times today. THIS one was gonna be boated, dammit!"

Shooting hooked and wild-mannered muskies was not all that uncommon back then. And, since it was my first legal-sized musky, Earl wanted to make sure that it got into the boat. After that, he never used that .22 again - - at least not in my prescense. (Although I did witness him using it to shoot a large snapping turtle I boated and brought to him. He gutted it and hung it in a tree to drain. The next day we were treated to delicious turtle soup prepared by Elsie.)

That first musky is currently mounted above my fireplace, and the bullet hole in its head can't be seen unless you know exactly where to look. This was in the days before catch-and-release became all the rage. If you caught a musky in those days, there was absolutely no shame associated with keeping it and having it mounted. Nowadays. guides do like to see them tossed back so they can have their customers catch the same fish over and over, again. Nicer for business that way. I've already mentioned how I miss all of those musky heads that used to be nailed to trees. 'Ya just don't see 'em anymore. There used to be pride in finally catching a big one that nobody else was able to catch. Nowadays, you're just one out of a line of who knows how many other guys who have latched onto the same fish? The guide knows where each of them hangs out. So, its omewhat like catching fish in a barrel, which you promptly deposit back into the barrel, of course. But, that's the way of the world nowadays. (I'm sure this will prompt a few vitrolic responses. So be it.)

The favorite game for a round of drinks at Old Log Inn was Poker Pool. Guys got five cards, and ladies got three. Each took turns at the table. As each numbered ball was sunk, you got rid of its associated card in your hand. The last person still holding a card (with the associated ball still on the table) had to buy the round.

(Conversely, at Al's Place, the preferred game was Liar's Dice. The ladies didn't get any break on that one.)

Elsie cooked delicious meals. Her home-made French fries were made from potatoes that were peeled fresh each day. My mouth waters just thinking of it. Any leftovers were put into the dump which was just down the road from The Old Log Inn (County F). Back then, the thing to do in the evening was to take the kids and park down at the dump to watch the bears come out and feed. (Not to be done anymore these days.)

Speaking of bears, Earl once had a cub that he kept for awhile in the bar. (Thanks to Gene Netzel, who actually snatched the cub out of a tree. Some say Gene was half-bear, himself. He sure did know the woods, and he also knew how to catch a limit of walleyes. He proved it to me one day when we easily brought back a stringer of ten nice ones. That was back when such a "copius" walleye limit still existed.) Earl used to sell lotsa Hershey candy bars to folks who would then feed 'em to the cub as it marched up and down the bar. But, one day a customer only fed HALF of the candy bar - - putting the other half into his shirt pocket. The cub, naturally, went after it and the customer was wounded in the chest, accordingly. After that, the cub magically disappeared from the Old Log Inn.

Before leaving in the morning for a guiding trip, Earl would check on the goldfish bowl. If the goldfish was swimming near the top, he'd favor the use of a surface lure (fashionably called a "topwater bait" nowadays). If the fish was near the bottom of the bowl, he'd favor the use of a deeper-running lure. Of course, Earl, himself, would always use a black bucktail, almost exclusively. To my mind, it's still the best musky lure out there.

On chilly days or evenings, Earl would toss another log into the 50-gallon-barrel converted into a horizontal stove down at the far end of the bar. It did a nice job of keeping things cozy.

Earl had been a firefighter in Chicago. He got fed up with Chicago politics; hauled his wife up to the woods; and raised a lovely family. His son, Scott, still lives and breathes the wonderful air adjacent to the Turtle Flambeau Flowage. Incidentally, Earl served in the US Navy in the South Pacific. As is the case with most WW-II vets, he never talked about it - - unless prompted by another vet who wanted to compare notes.

Just like the Old Log Inn, neither Earl nor Elsie are with us anymore, but their memory lives on amongst those of us who are old enough to remember the great meals and great times that we had.

Musky Mauler
04-23-2012, 11:07 AM
It was my first try at including a photograph, but I see that it didn't work. Obviously, for me there are still mysterious things that I have yet to master regarding computer usage in the 21st century. Others have mastered the technique. Maybe the mystery will become unlocked for me one of these days. Oh well, I guess the story will have to remain as posted and absent the photo of the Old Log Inn. MM

Mark Benson
04-23-2012, 05:27 PM
MM:

When you post, go to advanced, below there is a box that says Additional Options and go to manage attachments, go to your picture and upload it.

Mark

timk
04-24-2012, 11:16 AM
Musky Mauler .. nice story . I remember the Bears at the dump too ( like John Candy in the Great Outdoors ... it was real ! ) . My Dad got out of the car to take a ' closer picture ' of the Bears too .. all I remember was him trying to close the car door very fast and my Mom yelling ' George .. George .. ! ' - she doesn't swear that much :>) ! I will try to see if I have any pictures of the dump and the Bears . As for muskie fishing .. here is my first legal . By today's standards it is not even legal but back then it was something you showed every guest at each cabin the fish . It took a few years to catch it too .. truly a fish of a thousand casts ( more for me back then ... ) . Now , a fish that size is not even taken out of the water but they seemed bigger back then ! 1619616197

George G
04-24-2012, 11:29 AM
Hi Musky Mauler, you know why Earl used a pistol with out the front site, right ??, so when that big old Musky jumbs in the boat and he sticks that pistol where the sun don't shine it don't hurt so much. Te He. Adaptation of humor from Dale at Camp one for Bear Hunting. I got sucked in on that story for buying a 44 Mag pistol to pack when hunting bear. First thing you do when you buy that pistol is file off the front site, WHY said the ignorant Bear Hunter, Answer, so when the BEAR stick's it where the sun don't shine it doesn't hurt so much !! OK, you can scold me, I know , off subject.

Musky Mauler
04-24-2012, 02:27 PM
Mark,

I don't see anything that says "advanced." All I get when I try to upload is this:

C:\Users\owner\Pictures\2012-02-19\Old Log INN.jpg

I thought that perhaps when it actually got posted online, the image, itself, would appear instead of that line of info. Obviously, that didn't happen. Instead, only the above info line appeared as part of the posting. I guess I've still got lots to learn. MM

Mark Benson
04-25-2012, 09:13 AM
MM:

Lets see if my screen shots help get you closer... I probably will end up doing some editing to get a final product to you. Posting.'12 shows the "Go Advanced" button, click on it to get to the next screen in which you click on the "Manage Attachments" button. Click on the "Add Files" button, then the "Select" tab. This should get you to your source for selecting the pictures... Once you have found the picture you want, select it from your window, then hit the up load button in Posting.'12e. Hope that helps a little bit more.

You may be storing your photos from another web source and may need help from others in the final uploading.

Mark

George
04-25-2012, 10:13 AM
Very impressive tutorial Mark! Got anything on where the walleyes are gonna be the week of July 22nd? :)

justlen
04-25-2012, 12:47 PM
Man, I remember the dump. We'd roll out of Shamet's in the old Vista Cruiser and head to the dump in the evening. My Dad would pull the same shenanigans like getting out of the car with my Southern Belle Mom ripping of a string of cuss words...

My Dad being my Dad when we came back with a load of walleyes it was the women's job to clean the fish. One year my teenage sisters decided to line up walleye eyes along the shelf in the fish house. The next morning Joe Shamet was on the warpath because a bear destroyed the fish cleaning house. I think my sisters spent the day shopping in Park Falls to stay out of his way.

Two years ago my nieces decided to take an early morning walk from the Fort down to Robinson's landing. They turned a corner and there was a bear ambling down the middle of the road. As they stood there soiling themselves the bear stops, looks back with a "kiss my ass" look and continues down the road.

We were never big music fishermen but I remember one year when one of the Daley brothers at Cedar Lodge landed a monster. It was him or the muskie so he jumped out of the boat and swam home pulling the boat.

Mark Benson
04-25-2012, 04:58 PM
George:

If Don gave me enough info for that time frame, I might be able to pull that off... I am thinking NOT though!!!

Mark

ol'wildcat
04-25-2012, 08:04 PM
Earl is buried with a gift I shared with him for being such a wonderful friend and fishing
story teller. His sons know.
Tom

Musky Mauler
04-26-2012, 07:28 AM
16223

Mark,

If I've done this correctly, and The Old Log Inn appears, it's to your credit.

If the image doesn't appear, it's due to my continued poor computer skills.

Thanx for all the info!

(I think it might appear as a "thumbnail." My next task will be to figure out how to enlarge things just a bit.)

Musky Mauler
04-26-2012, 07:29 AM
AHA! I just discovered that if you click on the little picture, it turns into a bigger picture. Wonder of wonders!

Musky Mauler
04-26-2012, 07:34 AM
In addition to being a great guy, another advantage of fishing with Earl was the fact that he smoked that pipe of his. It tended to ward off any mosquitoes that might be lurking nearby. I can still hear Earl hollering from behind the bar: "Scotty - - bring up another case of Lienenkugel!!"

The Tiny Fisherman
04-26-2012, 08:55 AM
Thanks MM, that sure brings back the memories. Had a lot of Lienes with Earl. Loved how Earl would talk about the evolution of the flowage.

We see Scott all the time, he does our snowplowing. Its funny how Scott has Earl's facial expressions. That little tilt of the head and twitch of the face.

Did you know about in memory of Earl how they stocked Muskies in the flowage?

I'm sure I've boated a few of Earl's fish,.

the other andy
04-26-2012, 09:57 AM
Scott told me about that at the Rodeo a few years ago. I can think of no better tribute than releasing a few hundred muskies in a man's honor. Just seeing one of those fish following a bait would make any person's day memorable.

Mark Benson
04-26-2012, 03:59 PM
I think I remember a few times when we were in Earl's just a little bit after hours...

Mark

ol'wildcat
04-26-2012, 08:01 PM
The Tomek Family
We all knew Earl
We all knew Elsie
We need to get their two sons, Scott and John
back to being talking brothers again.