By Steve Weisman

Since I was a kid growing up (probably around age four) in northcentral South Dakota, I’ve been fishing. It just kind of came naturally because my dad and mom enjoyed fishing. To begin with, it was a short four-mile trip to Turtle Creek to catch bullheads! Well, now at age 74, I’m still at it, and so are my son and grandson.

Over the years, I’ve done a lot of free lancing, pulling my boat all over the Midwest to experience some of the best fishing around. On vacations, I’ve lined up fishing in Branson, Maui, South Padre, several places in Florida. Lots of great experiences.

My son and I have had the pleasure of staying at Jake’s in the Northwest Angle on Lake of the Woods several times and spending several days in an isolated ice shack. However, I’ve always taken care of the plans.

That is going to change over Father’s Day weekend. I’m going to kick back, relax and just plain enjoy everything. You see, my daughter’s fiancé, John Walz has invited me to spend a few days up on the south shore of Lake of the Woods headquartering out of Ballards Resort, a place they have been going to for several years. I was also invited last year, but my wife and I were moving to a different residence that very week, so that wasn’t going to work.

John’s son, Wes will be going along with other friends/relatives of John. I know most of them, so it’s not like I will be with a bunch of strangers. The common dominator is they all like to fish, fish, fish. Each year the guides put them on fish, and they usually catch excellent numbers and size. Last year John caught his largest walleye ever, a 30 incher.

Heading to Ballards at Lake of the Woods

We’ll be taking a big motor home, so we can all be together on the ride up and back, so we don’t have to take multiple vehicles. We’ll stay three nights and have two days of guided fishing with guides from Ballard’s.

This past winter, I visited with Joe Henry, Director of the Lake of the Woods Tourism. We’ve known each other for years, and I asked him about doing a guided fishing trip. Joe said, “Steve, you know there’s something special about a guided fishing trip. I know you’ve always been on your own, but there’s something nice about getting on a nice walleye boat with your friends and having a guide put you on the fish. You don’t have to worry about anything but setting the hook. Some places will actually clean your fish each day when you get back.”

Plus, I’ve watched Joe on several television episodes showcasing Lake of the Woods both freelancing with his own boat and also using a guided charter. Joe added, “Steve, it’s pretty cool when you have professionals that take care of everything.” He assured me that no matter the day or the conditions, the guides have one important job: to put you on fish.

John also reassured me that I would enjoy the trip. “The guides we have had the past couple of years have been great. They have always put us on fish.”

This sounds pretty good to me, so I’m ready to give it a try. For sure, I know there will be lots of good-natured ribbing, lots of jokes and I’m hoping lots of solid hook sets! In a future column, I’ll let you know how things went, and I recommend it for a future trip. Below are three photos from last year’s trip.

John’s 30” walleye

Wes’s 28” walleye

A great day of fishing