This typical U.P. sportsman scene (as previously appeared on Barb'sPage) reminds me of the time when Eino was comin up from the lake with two buckets of fish, when he was stopped by the Game Warden from the DNR.

"You got a license to catch those fish?" says the game warden.

"No, sir" says Eino politely, "Dese are my pet fish."

"Pet fish??!" the warden says.

"Yes, sir. Every night I take my pet fish down to da lake, let 'em swim around a little bit, den I whistle and dey jump back into da buckets. Den we go home."

"Ridiculous!" shouts the warden, "Fish can't do that!"

"Youbetcha dey can," says Eino, "Less go back down to da lake and I'll show you."

"This I gotta see," says the warden, as they walk back to the shore. So Eino pours the two buckets of fish into the water and stands and waits.

After several minutes the game warden turns to Eino and says, "Well??"

"Well what?" says Eino.

"When are you going to call them back?" says the warden.

"Call who back?" asks Eino.

"The FISH."

"WHAT fish?" says Eino.

Good night from California...
and happy April Fools Day from da' U.P.

Toivo,
That has always been one of my favorite fish stories. I first heard it from my Grandpa over in Cederville when I was 5 or 6. Kinda brings a tear to the eye. Hey while near Disneyland, say high to my Mom and Dad in Fountain Valley.

Bobby Codere; the logger from Lake Linden who could drop a tree on a dime, swore there were "Northern's like the ones in the photo, in the bays of Isle Royale in the spring. (so big, Bobby would say, that you didn't want them in the boat with you")Lake Superior certainly has some real "monsters" which show up in the early spring to eat smelt & spawn in the marshes..

Elmer Hoyer, who was the postmaster in Dollar Bay, told me the biggest he ever saw was a 39 pounder caught at the mouth of the Pilgrim River......

Walter Kettenbeil, my grandfather, spoke to me about the giant sturgeon (6-7 ft.)which would come up by the sawmill dock at the mouth of the Traprock river in Lake Linden..these giant old lake sturgeon scared boaters in the summer because they would lie on the surface of Portage and sun-bathe.......

Even though it's April Fool's Time...I encourage the readers to send in their best fish stories......

Hey Toivo,

Later today we'll have that page we talked about, the one with a summary of your trip and daily progress reports. Check back later for a link here.

Peter, Montreal..I remember your grandfather, Walter.....wasn't he the gentleman who owned Kettenbiel's Funeral Home in Lake Linden?? I know Zane and Kakie...and it was probably your mother who was the pretty schoolteacher...all such nice people.....and who could forget Bobbie Codere???.. Made the Rice Lake area so interesting!!..."Dear hearts and gentle people who lived in my hometown"

In reply to Walter regarding Sturgeon - in truth my grandfather who lived near Lake Huron used to tell stories about his father catching Sturgeons who really did lay on the surface and if the farmers were quick enough, they could actually club them to catch them. They were very plentiful a hundred years or so ago.

Any sturgeon caught in British waters has to be given (or at least offered) to Her Majesty the Queen. It gives the newspapers something to report if nothing else!! I don't hear of many being caught.

We were in Shwano Wi. a few years ago watching the sturgeon just below the dam. One really big guy would swim up and rest his head on a rock and just stare at all the people on the bank as if to say, "hey what're you all watching?". He looked really comical.

I agree with "Peter... Montreal"... I have caught Northerns in the bays (I'm not telling which ones) on Isle Royale that dragged our canoe around for 45 minutes. When one of the monsters finally got close to the guy with the net, he put the net down and instructed me to cut the line. He said there was no way he would be in the same canoe with a creature with teeth longer than his fingers. So, I boated him myself, a 23lb 44" Northern. No joke!

Since last night when I put on this picture, the old photo inbox has snagged some more keepers. Here's a good re-inactment of that original shot by Taka Aoki, featuring Taka herself and friends. [hehehe]


For the rest of the story, see Sunday's Pasty Cam.

When I was livin' over at da Pictured Rocks der was dis ole boy over south of Munising named Eino Maki who was a really good fisherman. Eino seemed to always catch fish even when nobody else could. So one day a bunch of dem guys were sitting around a table drinking coffee and talking about fishing when da local game warden walks up and asks how's da fishin' eh? Well it had been real hot lately and everyone said fishing was real slow, except ole Eino's still catchin' em. So the game warden says he wants to go fishin' wit Eino, and Eino says "OK, Let's go tomorrow morning". So da next morning Ole Eino and da game warden meet at da dock and load up der fishin' gear and all Ole Eino has is a long handled smelt net and a canvas bag. So dey head out on the lake and after motoring a while Ole Eino stops da boat and reaches in da canvas bag. He pulls out a stick of dynamite, lights da fuse and tosses it in da water. When it blows up a whole bunch of fish float up to da surface and Ole Eino scoops dem fish up wit his net. Well da game warden goes ballastic! He yells at ole Eino "You can't do that! Its Illegal!!" and da game warden goes on and on about why he can't do dat. Well ole Eino doesn't say anything or even look up at da game warden. He just reaches into da canvas bag and pulls out another stick of dynamite, lights da fuse and tosses in into da game wardens lap... Then ole Eino says "Well Mr. Game Warden, You gonna talk all day or you gonna fish"?


I sure miss fishing wit ole Eino! Happy April Fools Day and Bless our troops!

Hello to all,

When I realized the fish picture was up for April Fool's Day, I had Don look for some more goodies. You can check them out at
http://pasty.com/~barbspage/BigStuffs.html

Enjoy, and God bless our troops!

The picture looks like Otter Lake. Plenty of pike and an occasional sturgeon to wake you up. When we found our good "fishing hole" I didn't want to forget where it was so I marked an "X" in the bottom of the boat. It didn't work though. What a dufus. I used water soluable paint.

This is Doc Meier's favorite fish story, and my favorite Yooper tale to tell.

With apologies to Toivo, it goes like this:

Toivo and Eino were all set to ice fish. They walked up to a vast expanse of ice and stared, open-mouthed, at what looked like the Promised Land of ice fishing. "Holy Wah!" Toivo said to Eino as they walked out into the center of the ice.

They set up their gear, then marked a spot to drill. Toivo grabbed the auger and Eino got it set when a loud voice spoke over them.

"There are no fish under the ice," the Voice boomed.

Toivo and Eino looked around. Seeing no one, they got ready to drill again.

Again, the Voice boomed. "There are no fish under the ice!"

Toivo looked at Eino, then they glanced around the ice and up into the sky. They were the only people there, so they shrugged and again got set to drill.

The Voice boomed again, louder and more direct this time. "This is the Rink Manager. There are no fish under the ice!"

Roger from Novi,

I did the same thing one time and I used oil paint that stuck. But what a dufus I was too. I didn't get the same boat the next day.

Charlie! I receive a Pasty and there was NOTHING in it! Just air!
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April Fools! :)

Hey, Toivo, welcome to the neighborhood! I'm just up the road from you now. Y'oughtta stop on by! If you holler real loud I can probably hear you. I can holler back directions.
This is not our normal spring weather - too hot. You are catchin the end of the "Santa Anas," our desert winds that come to visit on occasion, cause a few nosebleeds, fry a few flowerbeds, and go back home. The ocean breeze should be back soon, hopefully.

Does anyone have any information about the fires in Hancock?! Please post. Not an April Fools' question, btw.

Where is Hans the Hacker? He must be lurking out there somewhere. April Fool's is his big day, right?

I hope you don't mind me writing.A friend of mine in TX ,only 71, sent me your picture of the fish she got from her friend, only 74, in Michigan .They know I am/was /still do in my mind fish.Well I certainly think the fish in the foreground looks like a Musky. I am from 3 generations of Musky and Northern and Walleye fishermen/women . I am disabled now and have to live in Wy in the Rockies but my heart still longs for UP Michigan-Wisconsin at Butternut Lake and Rhinelader and also Crane Lake and Gooseberry Falls Minn. Have photos from the 20's of dad and grandpa fishing and believe it or not a VHS made of the old type reel film back then. Trips to Crane Lake to fish for those big ones. I can't tell you how much pleasure this has given my old head and heart. But how do I subscribe to get this forum dailey? Thanks again,an old Pole in Wy ,Pat

To Barb of Barb's Page: Thanks for all that Big Stuff! I knew about the Big Fish, but not the Big Chicken and Veggies! There's always something new to learn about da U.P.

My favorite April 1st fish tale: Eino an Ahvo were out in da middle of the big lake gettin' their ice fishing hole "yust right" - when along came a speeding snowmobile. Eino yust shook his head, "Dat must be Toivo showing off again - he always hassa go trollin'".

Originally appeared on WLSam.com:

dear terrorist i am a naval aviator i was born in a small town in new england i come from a family of five i was raised in a middle class home and taught my values by my mother and father my dad worked a series of jobs in finance and my mom took care of us kids we were not overly religious family but attended church most sundays it was a nice small episcopal church i have a brother and sister and iam the youngest in the family i was the first in my generation to attend college i have flown naval aircraft for 16 years for me flying was never a life long dream or a calling it just happened i needed a job and i liked the challenge i continue to do it today because i feel its important to give back to the nation which gave me so much to me i do it because although i will never be rich my family will be comfortable i do it because many of my friends have left the airlines and someone has to do it my goverment has spent millions to train me to flythese multimillion dollar aircraft i make about 60000.00 dollars a year and after 20 years will be offered a pension i like baseball but think the players make to much i am in awe of fireman and policeman and what they do each day for my community and like teachers they just dont get paid enough i respect my elders and always use sir or ma'am when addressing a stranger i'am not sure about kids these days but i think thats normal for every generation i voted for george bush not for his iq but because i like him i think i made a pretty good choice i tell you this because when for you i want you to know me i wont be hiding behind a women or child i wont be disguised or pretending to be something i am not i will be in a us issue fight suit i eill be wearing standard us issue flight gear and i will be flying an navy aircraft clearly marked as a us warplane i wish we could meet up in a small room where i could wrap my hands around your throat and slowly squeeze the life out of you but unfortunately your hiding in a hole in the ground so we will have to do this a differant way i want you to know i am very good at what i do i can put 2000lb weapon through a window from 10000ft up i generally only fly a night so you may want to start sleeping during the day i am not eager to die for my country but i am willing to sacrifice my life to protect it from animals like you i will do everything in my power to ensure no civillans are hurt as i take aim at you my countrymen are a forgiving bunch many are already forgetting what you did sept 11th but i will not forget and my president will not forget i am comming i hope you know me a little bit better see you soon sleep tight signed a us navy pilot usa usa usa usa usa usa usa usa

Hey, Betty from Houston, can't find anything on Hancock fires, but Channel 6 has this report on a fire in Palmer (by Ishpeming):

There are still unanswered questions about the fire that killed three people in Palmer this weekend. At the time of the fire, four people were inside the home and only one escaped. Seventy-eight-year-old William Fossmo and his two grandchildren, five-year-old Alexander and three-year-old Austin Joyal, died in the blaze.

Sergeant Don Brown says, "It started on the west side of the structure. To be more specific, it started in a room which they call the boys' room. It's an accidental cause with an undetermined ignition source."

The Pigs-N-Heat Charity Fund has donated more than $1,000 and others are also helping out. The Palmer Firefighters Association, along with friends of the family and area residents, are holding a spaghetti dinner. It will be held Sunday, April 6, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Palmer Fire Hall.

Sorry, CHK, eye-hand coordination problems seem to keep plaguing me!

To "mark il"

Obviously an April's Fools post or a troll.

Perhaps you should troll in the future using some other less sensitive subject matter. These are serious times.

Two Yoopers brothers were putting siding on their house. The older one started on the east side, the other on the west side. After a while, the older brother walked over to the west side to watch his younger brother, (who was dumb as a house,) and see how his work was going. His younger brother would carefully look at each siding nail, and would throw away about half of them. "Why are ya trowing away all da nails?" asked the old brother. "Because da got da heads on da wrong end!" said the younger brother. "Stupid," said the older brother, "I can use dem on MY side of the house!"

hey person who wrote more yooper humor i know who you are!!!!!!!!!!

To Betty from Houston.

Don't know many details but there was a fire in Hancock today. It destroyed an upholstery (I think) shop but the Hancock FD was able to keep it from spreading.

Eino & Toivo made their living working in the woods. After seeing commercials on tv they decided that the Air Force would be a perfect choice for a new career so they went to the recruiters's office to sign up. A few days later, Eino got a letter in the mail stating that he had been accepted as a pilot and was given instructions on where and when to report. Toivo heard nothing. Toivo was outraged and went back to the recruiter's office to find out why they took Eino and not him. The recruiter explained that they had openings for pilots and Eino said he was an experienced pilot, but they just didn't have any openings for a woodcutter which was the occupation Toivo had stated. "But, " in an exasperated voice, Toivo explained, "if I didn't cut the wood, Eino couldn't pile it (pilot).

Pat -
All you have to do to check out this site daily is go to this website:

http://www.pasty.com/cam/index.html

It's a terrific way to keep up on the UP.

Dem peepers are starting der spring song
around da Twin Cities Tonight. Springs a
comin'

Did you hear about the fella that went ice-fishing in da UP? He came home wit' over 200 lbs of ice! Then his wife almost drowned them, she tried to fry it. :o) April Fool from da UP.

i posted this letter from wlsam.com web site

By RCW$Bay on Wednesday, April 2, 2003 - 06:23 am:

Was this meant to be an early April Fool? The parking lot at Quincys in $ Bay a day after the heavy snowfall this weekend.

That is one BIG snowpile, RCW. Can't even see the ball field or Richie's street. I remember years ago the whole ball field area used to flood and it was like a lake.The older teen age boys used to go out on it in rafts. The field across the street by our house flooded but not as bad.

Sure do remember doing that also Fran. Boy the Good Ole days.

love the shots from back home, sure miss all you guys .see you at the spot eh. frick,DBHS'77'