Old Days on Moose Lake

Some four or five decades ago, it was possible to rent a cabin on Moose Lake. Al Kaiser was the only resident on the lake, along with his wife and daughter. They did have a couple of nice, adequate cabins for rent. (Nothing remains there anymore.)

Me, and three of my fishing buddies rented one of the cabins for a stay during a long holiday weekend. We were on a quest to haul out four legal-sized muskies. This was back prior to the current craze known as “catch and release.” We had the lake staked-out with regard to all of the best spots graced with musky cabbage. This was due to previous fishing excursions. We fully intended to take our four trophies to the local taxidermist and have him mount them so as to forever grace a favored wall in each of our homes. As far as we were concerned, the muskies didn’t stand a chance!

Well, for three days we had some follows. We had some boils. In fact, we even nailed a couple of under-size critters. But, three days of fishing by the four of us in two boats brought no legal-sized results. Hey, what else could be expected with regard to the wily musky? And, back then 30 inches was all that was needed. However, just as I’ve always said, the fishing was still great. The catching, however, might have left a little bit to be desired.

And, after all, we did have a sufficient supply of Kugel. We had adequate foodstuffs. We even took turns doing the dishes. In the evening, Al would shut off the electricity generator at 9:00 PM. (His location was too isolated to be able to connect to public utilities.) The lights would extinguish and we’d be forced into an “early to bed, early to rise” schedule. All in all, it was a great weekend. For a change-of-pace, we even drove back one evening to the Flowage and to Tomek’s Old Log Inn. We did so just to partake in the usual ongoing tournament of Poker-Pool. (Loser of each game had to buy the round.)

Without doubt, Elsie made the best hamburgers and fries this side of the Canadian border (and other meals as well); Earl delightfully tended bar between pool shots; and Scotty would haul necessary replenishment cases of beer up from the depths below the floor of the bar in answer to Earl’s beckoning call, “Scotty - - another case of Kugel!”

Ah yes, those were the days - - -

I sure hope similar memories are still being forged by one and all up in God’s country.

Musky Mauler