Back to my childhood stories:

During that whole summer of 1953 my buddies and I caught fish like crazy and always off the same dock. My friends Jimmy, Jud and Lloyd had a lot of fun but my grandmother was tired of cooking fish that summer. The biggest fish I caught that year was a 9lbs. pickerel.

My first time ice fishing on the Moose River. As you may remember I said we had no running water at home. But the river was only 1000 feet from the house. So down I went with my water pail maybe a 2 gallon pail and my axe. My grandmother told me to be careful with the axe as it was very sharp. The ice was about 8 inches thick and the hole I cut was about a foot in diameter. I threw the bucket in filled it and up to house to pour it into the 45 gallon drum that was in the porch. Yes I also filled the boiler (water tank attached to the stove.) I must have made 30 to 40 trips just too half fill the drum. Then I filled the wood box up, I and still hear my grandmother saying don’t forget to bring some birch in. As birch burns longer and gave better heat. It was noon and time to eat lunch, while I was eating and day dreaming I told myself I’m going ice fishing. Down to that hole I went with line hook and a piece of salt pork that my grandmother said was good to maybe catch a big sturgeon. I fished until dark and ended up 2 pickerel the big one was 5 lbs. Also, I caught a small pike. That was a good start for my first ice fishing on the Moose River.

During that whole winter I did a lot of ice fishing, my buddies came once in a while. I was just beside the river. They lived a good mile and a half from me. I don’t remember catching any sturgeon that winter but do remember the speckle trout’s. Just about half a mile down the river was a small creek called Charles’s Creek I had set a few lines and even night lines, the speckles that I caught there that winter were nice sizes. From half a pound to 4 lbs. and a few catfish and pickerel. That was about it for the winter 1953/54.