By Steve Weisman
On May 22-24, the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (IGLFC) brought American Heroes Outdoors and its host Scott St. Sauver (a retired U. S. Army veteran and now fishing guide in northeast South Dakota), and television crew to the Iowa Great Lakes to film a future episode for Bally Sports North that will air in 2023 and as a live stream on Waypoint Outdoors TV this fall. Terry Thomsen, IGLFC president, said, “Board member Paul Daniels was up in northeast South Dakota a couple of years ago and made a connection with Scott up there. Paul liked the format and the message of the show, and so he worked to help make it happen.”
During each show, St. Sauver shares an outdoor adventure with veterans from that specific area. It is a documentation of journey, commitment, struggle and healing and is a tribute to this nation’s service men and women. As a frequent viewer of the program, I find their stories to be both compelling and real. St. Sauver finds that after experiencing the dangers and horror of combat, the outdoors for our nation’s heroes is a therapy.
Every area of the country has its share of America’s veterans. According to Thomsen, three northwest Iowa veterans were willing to be part of the show: Joe Quail, Coast Guard; Roger Simpson, Vietnam army veteran; Tom Goeken, Vietnam army veteran. Looking back on the Sunday night banquet and the two days of fishing, Thomsen reflected, “It was a wonderful opportunity for the club and for viewers to see what northwest Iowa has to offer. It was also a time for us to share the stories of these three veterans and to also remember the sacrifices that all of our veterans have made to keep this country safe.”
St. Sauver had lots of positives to say about the trip. “What a charming community and fantastic people. From the moment we arrived, the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club rolled out the red carpet for us. While the planning and coordination with Paul Daniels was fantastic as always, execution throws you some curve balls. One of the four Veterans we were going to spotlight was exposed to COVID and not able to attend while another had a family member with health issues and had do withdraw as well. I will admit I was a bit concerned but the results were quite the opposite. Terry Thompson and the Fishing Club Team were simply outstanding!! They adjusted right from the start.”
As a member of the IGLFC, I had the opportunity to “tag” along and to even get in a little fishing! Here is how the visit turned out.
A look back: Sunday evening
The Sunday evening banquet was an opportunity for IGLFC board members to meet St. Sauver and learn more about American Heroes. At the same time, it gave Thomsen the chance to dialogue with St. Sauver and share the mission and goals of the IGLFC. A major sponsor of American Heroes Outdoors is Scheels, and at each site, the local Scheels store will recognize a special Scheels Hometown Hero because, as St. Sauver notes, “Heroes appear in all communities through their service, caring and sharing their talents with their community. To be eligible, the recipient must either be a member of the United States Military or a first responder (law enforcement, fire or emergency medical service).”
On hand to present the Hometown Hero award was Dennis Stabe with the Sioux City Scheels store. The recipient was Mike Hawkins, who volunteers and is the assistant chief on the Arnolds Park/Okoboji fire and rescue, is a part of the dive/rescue team and a first responder. Thomsen says, “Mike is very deserving of this honor for all of his volunteer efforts. He is a true professional. Congratulations, Mike, and thanks for all that you do for this community.”
St. Sauver agreed with the choice. “We were able to surprise Mike Hawkins with our Scheels Hometown Hero for Sioux City and he couldn’t have been a finer choice! Mike and Kim are a dynamic duo who put their heart and souls into the amazing fisheries across NW Iowa. They were articulate and kind, and the community should be very proud to have the quality of fisheries personnel helping maintain these sportsmen’s gems of NW Iowa.”
A game plan for Monday and Tuesday was also formulated. St. Sauver would share his boat with a different veteran each day. Shane Akin, owner of Great Lakes Guide Service, also volunteered to guide a different veteran each day. Thomsen also participated with his boat to both fish and to offer any assistance needed. He had a special thank you for Akin. “The IGLFC certainly wants to thank Shane for his willingness to give up his own guide trips for two days to help ensure that the veterans who participated in the American Heroes visit to the Iowa Great Lakes had a great time and got the opportunity to experience some excellent fishing.”
As a guide himself, St. Sauver greatly appreciated Akin’s desire to help out. “Shane Akin was a true professional and as a guide myself I can’t explain how much his expertise made this trip so memorable.”
The goal was to showcase fisheries in northwest Iowa. There are so many great places to fish in the areas, but it was decided that Day 1 would be fishing for walleyes at Tuttle Lake and Day 2 would be fishing crappies at East Lake Okoboji.
A look back: Monday
Tuttle Lake is a shallow Minnesota/Iowa border lake covering over 2,000 acres. Since I moved to Estherville in 1978, it has been an excellent walleye fishery. What is amazing about the Tuttle Lake is that it is really shallow, and the last couple of years dry weather has raised the concern of winter kill, but it always seems to survive. It has grown to become a destination walleye lake.
Although the morning was relatively slow, when the day was over, eight anglers caught 24 walleyes between 15-21 inches with a 27-incher released. It was definitely a crankbait bite, as all three boats pulled crankbaits.
According to St. Sauver, “If you haven’t had the opportunity to fish Tuttle Lake, you most certainly need to. Fishing Shallow Flicker Shads on planer boards in a lake that rarely sees 4’ is amazing on its own, but with Veteran Joe Quail in my boat seeing his reaction to his first walleye ripping a board back and coming in at 27” was super special! We followed that up with a limit, while Tom Goeken took advantage of Shane’s expert fishing prowess to ensure we had great footage on a very special fishery!”
A look back: Tuesday
It was back to the Lakes on Tuesday with the boats looking for crappies on East Lake Okoboji. This bite has been good all spring, and it hasn’t stopped yet. Again, St. Sauver and Akin took the veterans, while I jumped into the boat with Thomsen. Pretty simple fishing, really. Throw out a 1/16 to 1/32-ounce jig tipped with plastic and troll over the weeds in 8-14’ of water.
All three captains would watch their locators, and when they found a huge school of crappies, they would spotlock and cast. I would guess that in one spot Terry and I caught at least 40 crappies in an hour. The largest for the morning was around 12”. Enough crappies were kept for a good fish fry later.
St. Sauver reflected on Day 2. “Day 2 with a crappie slam fest on East Lake Okoboji and for me extra special as I had Roger Simpson and Joe Quail in the boat, and we had the jigs and 1” Berkley Gulp Minnows firing – in the home of Pure Fishing and Berkley! Joe and Roger commented more than once that Berkley Gulp was definitely finding a place in their arsenal”
A special opportunity occurred thanks to a Veteran’s generosity. “A special shout out to Roger and Sue Simpson for allowing us to stay in their condo as well as their incredible hospitality. As we learned more about Roger’s service in Vietnam, it only became more realistic that we should be telling some of his story as well. Tom, Joe and Roger are true American Heroes, and I was honored to spend time in the boat with them and am even more proud to call them brothers in arms!”
A final thought about the IGLFC. “We learned so much about all the great work with kids the Iowa Great Lake Fishing Club does, and we couldn’t be happier than to share their great work with our viewers. Kids in the outdoors are our future, and it appears to us that NW Iowa has a very bright future for the outdoors!”
(L) to (R) Scott St. Sauver, Dennis Stabe. Mike Hawkins, Terry Thomsen (photo by Steve Weisman)
A great day fishing walleyes! (photo by Steve Weisman)
(L) to (R) Veterans Joe Quail, Roger Simpson, Tom Goeken with lots of crappies (photo by Steve Weisman)
