Dave Beck

Time flies when you’re having fun and I am about to have a lot more of it. I am in the process of packing for an outing on Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota. It’s actually my second trip up there this summer and while I boated some nice northern pike on the earlier trip, I failed to accomplish my primary goal which was to catch the biggest fish of my life. If you’re gonna dream, it doesn’t cost anything extra to dream HUGE. I’ve netted a 55-incher for Brent GhostTail a few years ago so I’m looking for something in the neighborhood of 55 and one-quarter inches long. 

My lead-off netman for the trip is none other than Mr. Big Fish himself, Uncle Frank. Because I am going to be up there for two weeks I have a revolving door for netmen: my brother Garret, my nephew Riggin, my elk guide Rob (all the way from Colorado), and batting last is Justin Durand. For now, let’s just focus on Uncle Frank. 

Last year, just for the trip, I had a custom lure made for Uncle Frank. I actually had it inscribed with “Handcrafted for Uncle Frank to catch a 50” musky on Lake Vermilion.” It wasn’t just a lure, it was a piece of art. For two full days Uncle Frank admired the lure but for reasons unknown to me at the time, he wouldn’t use it. I finally pressed him on it and he admitted that it was just too nice and too expensive and he didn’t want to lose it. To help ease his mind I reached for his lure and tossed it over my shoulder into the lake. His reaction looked like a slow-motion replay of someone yelling: “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” It was only after seeing his lure bobbing in the waves that his fears eased enough to start using it. 

What would be the best ever ending to that story? I know what you are thinking and you are right: if Uncle Frank would have boated a monster on that lure it would have been epic. That didn’t happen but the second-best thing did. On the very first cast, I kid you not, a 50-inch musky came charging up behind his lure and followed it all of the way to the boat and just hung there, looking at the lure. It never did take a swipe at it but it sure was thrilling to see that happened on the first cast. Uncle Frank never switched lures the rest of his time on the water. 

Another memorable outing on Vermilion was when Uncle Frank decided to use Swisher Sweet cigars to keep the monster mosquitoes at bay. Now I don’t smoke, but I kind of like the smell of cigars. I’m not sure if that strategy worked because the experiment was short lived. It was either the waves bouncing the boat, a really quick half hour flu bug, or simply the cigar smoke going in instead of out but before I knew it, Uncle Frank was leaning over the back of the boat chumming the water, if you know what I mean. I didn’t see the cigars in the boat ever again. 

Uncle Frank is pretty good boat company and entertaining as well. As if looking forward to musky fishing on Lake Vermilion was not enough, looking forward to musky fishing on Lake Vermilion with Uncle Frank is epic.  

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