By Steve Weisman
No matter what part of the state we live in, there is a strong fishing history. With this history comes the stories and legends of the fishing icons who were on the cutting edge of fishing in their day.
When I moved to northwest Iowa in 1978, I was amazed at the incredible fishing history surrounding the Iowa Great Lakes and the many fishing legends that had made the Lakes one of the go-to places in the entire Midwest. My son, Curt was only two years old at the time of our move, but he already had a passion for anything having to do with the outdoors and loved to tag along. Although I grew up fishing in South Dakota, these lakes were an entirely different deal.
So, where do you go to learn? Well, of course, the local baitshops. I had three that we would regularly go to: White Oaks Baitshop, Shuck’s Bait and Tackle and Kabele’s Trading Post. Although White Oaks was on HWY 71 on the west side of the road heading out of Arnolds Park and Shuck’s was on HWY 86 just around the curve heading north, I think more fish tales were spun at those two baitshops than probably anywhere else in the Midwest. Kabele’s was located on Hill Avenue in Spirit Lake across the road from the very north end of East Okoboji.
Remembering the baitshops
Jon Parks bought White Oaks in 1974, while Charlie and Bev Shuck bought the Okoboji Bait Farm from Charlie’s dad in 1972, renamed it Shuck’s Bait and Tackle and built a new baitshop in 1973 on the east side of the curve where it still stands today. To make ends meet, fish cleaning was a huge part of both businesses. At White Oaks, sons Perry, Todd and Eric were an integral part of the fish cleaning brigade. Perry and Eric remember cleaning thousands of fish each year! My son and I would hang around both shops and just listen. We didn’t have a lot to offer to the conversations. We’d just hang back and ask a question or two when the opportunity arose, all the while learning some of their ”secrets.”
Ed and Alice Kabele established Kabele’s Trading Post in 1968. Yes, it was a bait shop, and I’d always stop there for bait when we’d fish Big Spirit, but it was different, too, because it was also a bullhead business, a turtle trapping, cleaning and selling business, and a fur trading business. Ed seined bait and sold a lot of it to lake resorts and other area baitshops. Talk about stories, but they were different stories than those in the other baitshops. There was always something new when it came to trapping snapping turtles! Ed often talked of catching big snappers and putting them in a gunny sack and carrying them out over his back.
At that time, I was a young 29-year-old teacher/coach and outdoorsman. I didn’t think much about aging or how quickly generations come and go. However, as I entered my 60s, I began to realize how quickly life moves. All too soon, Jon, Ed and Charlie passed away, in 2010, 2014 and 2015, respectively. White Oaks is no more, and Shuck’s Bait and Tackle stands empty, while Thane and Tanya Johnson have taken over and expanded Kabele’s Trading Post.
Other fishing icons
At about that same time (late 70s), I became acquainted with Jim McDonnell, a crusty old girls basketball/track coach from Royal. Known as the Fishing Professor, he was also a well-known fishing guide (40 years) and educator. We became great friends, and he provided weekly outdoor columns for my outdoor pages. He was also part of the Fishing the Midwest Fishing Team with Bob Jensen. After we had both retired from the teaching profession, I can still remember Mac calling me up and asking, “So Stevo, are you looting and plundering today or actually working?” He was one of those early fishing legends. He passed away at the way too early age of 74 in 2012. I still remember the morning after Mac’s visitation, I was ice fishing on West Okoboji’s Millers Bay for bluegills. The water was crystal clear, which always made the bite that much tougher. Many a day those clear water bluegills had schooled me. On this day, though, I could do no wrong. I sensed the Fishing Professor was behind me making sure I offered the right presentation and set the hook at just the right time.
Of course, Berkley Bedell’s story is well known, how he grew the Berkley name from scratch, and his legacy (Pure Fishing) is still a big part of the fishing world. The facility still sits on the north side of HWY 9 just east of the HWY 9/71 four way stop. He was known for his loyalty, integrity and honesty. One of the keys to his success was hiring good people. I never worked specifically with him, but I spent a lot of time in the research area interviewing Dr. Keith Jones, Director of Fish Research at Berkley, for stories on fish behavior and developing artificial baits. There were lots of powerful eulogies and testimonials about Berkley when he passed away in December of 2019. Definitely an icon of icons in the fishing world.
When I came to the Lakes, both Jon and Charlie told me I needed to get some Cap’s Rock-a-Roo hair jigs if I wanted to jig for walleyes or smallmouth bass. I never knew the legendary Cap Kennedy, who made the famous Cap’s Rock-a-Roos, and Jim Stone, who made the molds, but even today, my friends and I all have a great supply. My largest smallmouth bass, a 21 incher, came on a Rock-a-Roo off of Pocahontas Point (based on Charlie’s suggestion) in the spring.
(photo submitted) Roger Coffman enjoyed stopping in at local baitshops to re-stock the shelves with his R C Jiggs.
Then in the early 1990s, I met Roger Coffman, who designed and made his own line of hair jigs, called R C Jiggs. I also found that he had taken on the job of tying the multiple lines (sizes and colors) of the famous Cap’s Rock-a-Roos. I remember visiting Roger at his home in Fostoria. I was there for an interview, and he took me to his basement workshop. I was just plain amazed at his system and how quickly, yet so meticulously he could tie a jig. Oh, for all of the colors from which to choose! Over the next 25 years or so, whenever I needed a panfish or walleye hair jig, I’d go to one of the local baitshops and pick up whatever I needed. Sadly, on February 16, 2020, Roger passed away. Another fishing icon, lure maker is gone.
In visiting with his son, Ryan, he recently shared a memory of his dad. “You know, in many ways, my dad was an impatient person, but when he sat down to tie his jigs, it was so relaxing for him. People could never figure out how he could tie those jigs, because he had those huge hands and thick fingers. Yet, he was so good at it.”
I know there are so many more fishing icons from the Iowa Great Lakes area that I have not talked about. These are just the ones that I personally knew, who helped teach me so much about the sport of fishing. Although I feel a sense of sadness, which we always do when we lose someone special, I am also thankful that I got to know these legends, knowing that they have moved on to a much Greater place!
