Along the Shore

Vince Ekroot with his wife Christine Angelo. Ekroot has fished the lakes, rivers, streams and creeks of northeastern Minnesota for most of his life, and he has been operating Little Vince’s Guide Service on the Gunflint Trail since 1987. | SUBMITTED

Fishing with Little Vince

By Eric Weicht

GUNFLINT TRAIL—When it comes to guided fishing trips, every guide has their own way of doing things.

A lot of guides have a favorite lake or two where they like to take people and a triedand-true method in a specific spot that is sure to catch fish. The client books a date with the guide and the guide takes care of deciding where to go and what to fish for based on what they know will work.

While that style of guiding may work for some, it is not how Vince Ekroot likes to run his guiding business. For Ekroot, it is all about making the trip right for the folks that he is with.

“When people call me,” says Ekroot, “I start by asking them what they’d like to fish for. If they have a specific fish in mind and it’s been working, then that’s what we do. If it’s not working, I tell them so and let them know what has been working.”

“I try to work with [my clients] and provide them with as many options as possible,” continues Ekroot, “because ultimately what we fish for is up to them. If they want walleyes, for example, I see if they’re willing to fish from a canoe—a short portage makes a huge difference when fishing for walleye.”

Ekroot has fished the lakes, rivers, streams and creeks of northeastern Minnesota for most of his life, and he has been operating a professional guiding business—Little Vince’s Guide Service—up the Gunflint Trail since 1987.

Ekroot is known as being one of the premier, if not the only guide on the Gunflint Trail who will take folks out fishing for stream trout on lakes. Rainbow trout and splake are the trout that he fishes for most these days, but he knows how to “do well” on 2-5-pound lake trout all summer long and how to catch brook trout in the spring and fall on “difficult to get to lakes” for anyone up for an adventure.

If clients are looking for something other than trout, however, Ekroot is happy to target more traditional species of lake fish like bass, walleye and bluegills. While the goal is usually to “put people on large numbers of eating-sized fish,” catching a trophy-sized fish is never out of the question on one of Ekroot’s trips.

“Little” Vince Ekroot was born in Duluth on April 23, 1958. Ekroot grew up in Duluth just up the hill from the hospital where he was born, attending Munger Elementary through the 6th-grade before being uprooted to the Gunflint Trail in 1969 when his parents purchased the Windigo Lodge (present day Poplar Haus).

“I started fishing at a very young age,” recalls Ekroot. “As a kid living in Duluth I would often walk up to Chester Park and fish for trout in the ponds and creek.”

“My father and his friends showed me basic fishing techniques,” continues Ekroot, “but I was pretty well self-taught on fly fishing.”

The move to the Gunflint Trail would prove life changing for Vince. While Ekroot’s dad was initially the one most excited for the family’s new life on Poplar Lake, it was Little Vince who took full advantage of his new home in the woods.

“[My dad] thought he’d have more time to fish after buying the lodge,” says Ekroot. “Unfortunately, it didn’t really work out that way. I, on the other hand, had way more time to fish, and would get my father to give me a ride down to the Greenwood River area to fish the creeks for brook trout.”

For a while, fly fishing for brook trout along remote creeks and streams in and around the BWCAW was Ekroot’s favorite way to fish. That is, until his father’s friend Ben Larsen introduced him to lake fishing for trout. According to Ekroot, after catching his first big brook trout with Larsen, he “pretty much lost interest in fishing for those little guys.”

To date, Ekroot has caught five brook trout over 5 pounds, and “well over a hundred” that weigh more than four.

Moving to the Gunflint Trail is also what got Ekroot his start as a guide. At 12 years old, Ekroot was already taking out clients to some of his favorite brook trout spots, carrying their canoes across portages and casting from the shore with either a spinner or bait while his clients went out fly fishing.

“Even at that age,” recalls Ekroot, “I’d generally out fish them by a pretty big margin.”

In the fall of 1976, Ekroot moved back to Duluth to attend college at UMD. After a tough four years in Duluth that ended without a degree, Ekroot married Christine Angelo and, in need of a job, decided to enlist with the Army and became an anti-tank gunner with the rank of specialist four.

One year of active-duty service later, Ekroot returned to school and finished his degree in 1984 at Bemidji State through the Army’s ROTC program. Ekroot then spent three more years of military service as a 2nd Lt. Military Intelligence and a year of teaching at Superior Senior High School before making a permanent move back north with his wife Christine to start a new life.

“When I returned north in May of 1987,” says Ekroot, “guiding became my full-time job and has been since. I made a decision that life was too short to be in a job that you didn’t love. Money wasn’t nearly as important as loving what I did, and I’ve always loved fishing.”

Despite loving his work and making a living in what some might consider a “dream job,” Ekroot is quick to point out that it is still, in fact, a job.

“It is not an easy job,” says Ekroot, “especially the way that I do it. I always like to go places a little off the beaten path, which often means portaging 12-foot alumacraft boats into lakes by myself.”

“Some people think that guiding is just going fishing every day and that every day is beautiful,” says Ekroot. “I’ve had to fish in pouring rain, strong winds, snow storms, 100-degree heat without a breeze… it’s not always rosy. Like I said, it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”

After 35 years of “putting people on fish” Ekroot still loves his work and has no plans to stop any time soon. To book a trip and limit out with Little Vince, give him a call at: 218-388-9942.

Terrace Bay turns 75

By Peter Fergus-Moore

TERRACE BAY—This August, the North Shore town of Terrace Bay is temporarily traveling back in time to the 1940s.

“We’re hosting a ‘retro night’ at the Michael King Hall, “says Gary Adduono, “given that our community was founded in 1947.”

Fireworks will light up the sky at Terrace Bay’s 75th anniversary celebration on Saturday, Aug. 20. | SUBMITTED

In other words, the town is celebrating 75 years of existence and all are welcome to the party. The town’s celebrations take place from August 18-21. Adduono, who chairs the 75th anniversary committee, estimates that some 750-1,200 people will attend the weekend festival.

Terrace Bay is named for the unique terrace-like rock formations left over from the glacial creation of Lake Minong, whose water levels shrank until what we now call Lake Superior was formed some 10,000 years ago. The town itself, however, owes its existence to a familiar and more recent human activity: Longlac Pulp and Paper (later Kimberley Clark Forest Products) built a mill and townsite on the present township area in 1947, when Ontario Hydro diverted the nearby Long Lake flow southward, to provide electricity for the new project. At its peak, Terrace Bay’s population was nearly 3,000 people, but like many resource-extraction based communities, it has experienced periods of economic growth and shrinkage.

Now, the town will look back and look forward, beginning with a full day on Thursday, August 18.

“There’ll be an outdoor market, three bands, inflatables for the kids, and a movie night in the park behind Simcoe Plaza (inland north of the highway),” says Adduono. “The Thunder Bay band The Sensational Hot Rods will be playing at our street dance and beer gardens Friday night. Then Saturday night, the country band Back 40, also from Thunder Bay, will be down at the waterfront, followed by fireworks at dark.”

Saturday, August 20, is slated as Beach Day at the town’s new waterfront pavilion at Terrace Bay Beach. Sunday, after an ecumenical worship service at the Pavilion at 10:30 a.m., the event’s closing ceremonies will take place at noon. At around the same time, Parks Canada may be hosting a grand opening of their new stores and office facility.

The pandemic-driven barriers to travel that persist for many kept the anniversary committee on its toes in the early stages of planning. With a number of restrictions lifted, however, the committee expects a healthy turnout, especially given the rise in local tourism that the community has experienced in recent years. With that in mind, a temporary museum space will help guide visitors through the town’s past.

“One of the most labor-intensive elements of our celebration will be our pop-up museum hosted at the Terrace Bay Community Centre,” Adduono says. “Volunteers have been sorting through hundreds of photos, particularly from the last 25 years to help complement the displays created 25 years ago for the 50th anniversary. We look forward to our visitors and residents taking some time to commemorate and reminisce about the past at this attraction.”

“The mission statement for the anniversary is ‘Commemorating our Past, Celebrating our Future,’” Adduono says. “Each event and activity is aimed at doing just that. We believe there will be something for everyone from all generations to enjoy.”

New at Tettegouche State Park

By Michelle Miller

SILVER BAY—Minnesota is home to 67 state parks, including the must-see Tettegouche State Park in Silver Bay. Located just a little over an hour drive from Duluth, it is a beautiful trip along Highway 61. The majority of the route hugs the shores of Lake Superior with many rest stops to take in the views. The state of Minnesota acquired the 3,400 acres of land in 1979, which was added to the Baptism River State Park and later renamed Tettegouche, coming from the Tettegouche Club, an association which purchased the park in 1910. Since then, many additions, improvements and expansions have been made to meet the needs of visitors. Most recently, in 2014, a visitors’ center was built to better serve the community and overall programming needs.

Educational programs are offered yearround and for all ages. One of the highlights, unique to Tettegouche, is the Baptism Summer Stream Study. Participants wade in the river water with nets, encountering a variety of river life. Interpretive naturalist Kurt Mead says this program offers a Tettegouche exclusive—“Tettegouche earrings for the adventurous visitors.” Mead explains that if the timing is right, a crawfish may be found and can gently be coaxed to latch on to an earlobe.

Mead has been employed with the DNR for eight years, moving up to the North Shore in 1996. He holds a B.S. Degree in biology and a B.F.A. in art. Providing a rich schedule of programs is a large part of his responsibility at the park. The state park system has many resources for “tried and true” curriculums, yet he also utilized the seasonal interns to develop fresh topics throughout the summer. It is part of their school requirement to develop and teach presentations. Mead encourages students to find something they are passionate about and go from there.

“It is a great way for me to explore a topic I may not have had time or knowledge to make into a good program,” Mead says.

Visitors can expect fun programming this summer with one of the themes being all things squirrels.

A state park staple are the nature carts set up near the visitor center or along the trails. This is a perfect opportunity for visitors with a full agenda to interact and learn something new in a short, simple program introduction. The full events calendar and details can be found on their website: dnr.state.mn.us/ state_parks.

Educational programs for all ages are offered year-round at Tettegouche State Park in Silver Bay. | SUBMITTED

Art exhibits are another highlight unique to Tettegouche. Mead was able to combine both of his degrees and interests when developing the juried art exhibits program. Each month, a Minnesota artist is featured on the main common area wall in the visitor center. Mead explains this space was originally designed to have permanent nature stock photos hanging. He came up with the concept of highlighting local artists on a rotating basis and turning the space into a true gallery. An artist’s reception is held the first Friday of each month from 7-8:30 p.m. to meet and welcome the new artist. August will feature Minneapolis-based painter Thomas Dimock. He is an award-winning artist whose work covers diverse themes, yet he is most passionate about en plein aire (outdoor landscape) techniques.

Staying true to the parks goal to continue providing innovative and new opportunities for visitors, a nature play area is in the works, with the goal to open next summer. The plan is to provide several areas that actively engages kids with nature and its elements. The overall design will provide opportunities for physical activity, social and imaginary play. This project is one of the many supported by the volunteer group, Friends of Tettegouche State Park. New members are always needed and welcomed. To find out more, visit: friendsoftettegouche.org, or call 651-308-6510.

In addition to the state, employees and volunteers continually updating and changing the grounds and programs, nature also takes it’s turn at providing visitors with a fresh experience. The landscape is in constant change, creating a different natural topography along the pebbled beach and river banks.

The park is open daily from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.