April 11, 2023

Ten days ago, I was wondering if spring was ever going to arrive. Well, four days ago it did. We’re going to hit 70 degrees today. Yippee! That’s the good news. The bad news is that with all the snow we’ve had this season (over one hundred inches), we have not been able to  complete the many chores necessary to open our grounds on our traditional date of April 15th. In fact, today is the first day we have been able to get into the museum. On two occasions this past winter we had to have snow removed from our roofs. It was a necessary task, but it did pile up a lot of snow in front of our entrances/exits. As you can see from the insert, we still have a mound of snow and ice blocking our entry onto the grounds. Additionally, there is still a lot of snow and ice on our walkways. So this year, our grounds will open to all our members and the general public on Saturday, April 22nd. I am very sorry if our later than normal opening has inconvenienced anyone, but it could not be helped. In northern Wisconsin Mother Nature holds all the cards.

By the time you are reading this, many of you will already be veterans of the new fresh water sportfishing season. In fact, many of our “southern” friends never put their tackle away for the winter. And with all the improvements regarding ice fishing tackle and electronics, most of us “up north” never stop fishing either. However, there is something special about that first day on open water each year. Crappies in the spring is just about as good as it gets. I believe when I tire of watching my bobber dance, followed by the slapping on the surface from a big “paper mouth” crappie, I will hang up my fishing gear. I suspect that will never happen. Good luck to all this spring. And remember, it’s called fishing not catching. Catching is just the icing on the cake.

In this packet you will receive three flyers. Two of them you have seen before (2023 Cash Raffle and the 2023 Hall Hat/Lapel Pin), but the third flyer is new. We are proud to be offering, on a first come first served basis, a 1 through 50 commemorative Fishing Hall of Fame lure for 2023. It’s called The Gagster and it’s a must for all collectors and anglers alike. Please see the flyer for all the details and order yours today. Thank you, Al Gagliarducci of Al Gag’s Lures (www.algagsfishinglures.com), for donating them to us. It is very much appreciated.

Until the summer,