JASON (singing) 1-2-3-4…here’s Emily Jo! Yeah! I think this is the part where you introduce the podcast.
EMILY Alright!
From Fredenberg, Minnesota, The Minno-ette Podcast
EMILY Welcome to Episode 3 of The Minno-ette Podcast. My name is Emily Manning and I’m here with my father Jason
JASON I’m her father Jason. Hi, Emery! Sorry, my phone just went off. No, that’s good because my phone went off because I have a fishing report to give you from Captain Jarrid Houston of Houston Outdoors and we will do that in just a couple of moments.
EMILY Excellent!
JASON This is real-time stuff – it’s what we do around here!
EMILY I’d say we just kick off with what’s been going on around the store lately construction-wise.
JASON Yeah! I mean it’s obviously — for people who have frequented the Minno-ette — for, you know, a number of years, the place has been around for 70 years, it’s a legendary spot. But as of the past December-January-February-March April-May, just six-seven months…math is hard…there have been changes. We’ve been slowly but surely making some changes to the store. We hope improving the store with a brand new ADA compliant bathroom — which is now up and working! Apparently, the waving your hand in front of the deal to get the toilet to flush has flummoxed some people! They haven’t known what to do.
EMILY It’s a little, it throws you off for sure…because one, you’re out in Fredenberg! That is something that you would expect to see in Europe.
JASON They just got Pac-Man in Fredenberg the other day, I heard.
EMILY Oh, really?
JASON Do you know what Pac-Man is?
EMILY Yes I know what Pac-Man is! Yeah, no — it is really cool, it’s really high-tech. We have the ceiling done in there. We’re still waiting on some tile for the floor, but it is pretty much complete in there. It’s ready for use and it’s been getting used!
JASON Yeah, we got to put the finishing touches on there. I think we might just paint the floor. I don’t know if we’re going to go Martha Stewart on it. It is after all, a very utilitarian room, but it’s bigger, it’s clean, it has modern amenities. So, that’s done for all intents and purposes. So then the other thing the minnow tanks have been in there for a while now. The minnows are happy and healthy and wise and all that good stuff. Chubs — we’re good with.
EMILY Yup!
JASON Crappie minnows — we’re good with.
EMILY Yup!
JASON Uh, what am I missing…light pike?
EMILY Light pike, heavy pike. We do have shiners at the moment. We’ve been able to keep them in stock pretty regularly, but it does happen where we don’t have them every now and then because they are just so dang hard to get your hands on around here.
JASON It’s one thing I’m starting to figure out with the other shop owners in town. You know, there’s four of us — there’s Russ at the Marine General, there’s Matt over at Fisherman’s Corner, there’s Johnny over at Charlstrom’s. You know, we all talk to one another. We all try to work with one another, but the shiner thing…it’s kind of like if you have a good shiner guy, you keep it to yourself. You don’t let anybody know who your shiner guy is. So, if you’re able to get them, it is a wonderful thing and we have a couple of shiner people. It almost sounds like it’s illegal drugs! We do have a few shiners.
EMILY Keep it on the D-L.
JASON On the D-L as the kids say. So, leeches?
EMILY We have regular leeches and jumbo leeches currently.
JASON And crawlers! Plenty of crawlers. So we are good to go as far as live bait’s concerned. Again, we always say this, but it is live bait, and if you ever get a batch of live bait that does not meet your standards — if you think it stinks — literally and figuratively, you come back you say you’re not happy with it we’ll buy it. Simple as that. We’re not going to argue with you because you’re not happy with your bait. I don’t think most people out there running the dozen crawler bait racket a couple bucks back. We just want to make sure people are happy.
EMILY Absolutely! You may have noticed if you’ve been in the Minno-ette the past week or so, that things are looking a little different in there. We have a new wall up!
JASON And there’s a new door!
EMILY A new door.
JASON We can’t officially say what it’s for yet, because the very nice people from the State of Minnesota will be visiting us on Wednesday. Today is Monday, June 21st —which, by the way, Happy Birthday to my mom — your grandma.
EMILY Happy Birthday, Grandma!
JASON But as of Wednesday, the State of Minnesota — the wonderful, kind, understanding, and cooperative people from the great state of Minnesota…
EMILY We love ’em.
JASON ….will be gracing us with their presence to go over the construction to make sure it is in compliance with what it needs to be for us to do what we want to do. I can’t say anything more than that. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what we’re trying to do, but as of Wednesday, if they give us a thumbs up, then we can start talking about it during the next podcast next week. Does that make sense?
EMILY Yeah, yeah. I mean to me!
JASON Very good! Does anybody want a beer?! Anyway, so that’s what’s going on construction-wise right now at the Minno-ette. Then once we’re done with all that stuff, then we’re going to focus on the other side of the store…the grocery department and everything else that’s involved to make that — we hope — even better and offer more for folks. But again, we’ve got a long list. Just one thing at a time
EMILY So, as my dad just said, it is June 21st today, and coming up soon is the Fourth of July! I just wanted to run through a few things that our store offers. as I’m guessing that they will be kind of in high demand over the next few weeks. So, we do have a bunch of camping supplies. We have pegs if those are ever needed for a tent.
JASON I can’t tell you how many times I need another peg! It happens all the time.
EMILY They break, they get lost. We have rain gear, we have the little forks that used to roast things over the fire. We have all the s’more stuff that you will need!
JASON We have tarps!
EMILY Yep, we have tarps.
JASON Tarps are a big one. Not camping necessarily, but boating and trailer accessories and parts…We had a gentleman come in the other day in a little bit of a panic. He said “Do you have a toggle switch?! I need a toggle switch. There’s no way you guys have a toggle switch.” Yeah, we had a few different toggle switches. So, you know, we do have more stuff than you think at the Minno-ette. We’re one of those stores too, if we don’t have it, you know, a couple people ask for it — we’re gonna get it. We’ll just try to have one in stock anyway because when something breaks, when you’re missing something, what have you…it’s just zero fun at all when you are kind of stranded and up the creek without the paddle as they say.
EMILY Yeah we try to—we try to keep everything that people might need in stock as often as possible. Something else that we do have in stock now for the first time ever is our own Minno-ette apparel! We have t-shirts and they are 16 dollars and then our sweatshirts are on sale for 30 dollars. We only have a few of the sizes displayed out front right now, so if you are interested in getting any of those, please just see an associate and they will go and find any size that you need.
JASON …and we’re wearing our sweatshirts. Stay tuned. It’s actually — for the first full day of summer — it’s a little bit cool out here. We think it’s going to be a better podcast if we were wearing our Minno-ette gear!
EMILY Of course!
JASON Then we got to go back to work after this so there’s that.
EMILY We recently received another sporting goods order. We got a ton of stuff in there, particularly bobbers have been really hard — light up bobbers — have been very hard for people to find and keep in stock, but we just got a ton of them. We have the thill light up ones and then we have the JB Lure light and bright floats…
JASON …uh these are the fire floats acutally. We have a couple different sizes here. These things are sweet, and I’m a big thill fan. I’ve used thill bobbers and their light-up bobbers for years and years…you turned me onto these JB Lure fire floats. They’re balsa construction, they have this fiber optic stem that you can see from Mars. When you—when you throw that thing out there, now you can see it forever and it’s just… they’re sweet, they’re just sweet. I don’t know how else to describe them.
EMILY I really like how you activate the light on the bobber, too. Instead of having to open the top and try to get your thumbnail under the little light to pull it up, you just unscrew the top, flip over the lithium battery, and just put the top right back on.
JASON They light right up and they’re wonderful to use. So, we have both kinds — because I’m still a thill guy from way back because they’re beacons in the water, but these JB Lure fire floats are great and we have a ton in stock as we pointed out. I think we got some Power Pro in…we have a bunch of fishing line.
EMILY The trolling minnow buckets have also been really hard to keep in stock and find them. We just got a ton!
JASON Yeah, so it’s one of those deals with everything going on, suppliers have been struggling to get people like us stuff to sell. We finally got a bunch in, so we should be plenty stocked up for the Fourth of July.
EMILY So, you mentioned earlier that we were going to talk about fishing reports, so let’s do that now.
JASON Well, you’ve been out a lot. I know that you were out with your uncle Joe here the other day, and then you and I have been able to get out here and there with your brother. You’ve caught smallmouth, because typically, when you go out with me, I’m fishing — that’s what I like to do most of all.
EMILY The bottom of the Island Lake Dam, the river side, has been picking up for sure. It was definitely a little slow after opener. Been getting a lot of walleye down there, and they’re not huge. Lots of pike on Island and Fish [Lake].
JASON I caught about a 17″ walleye off the dock the other night and that was it. I’m out there, slip bobber fishing, using leeches. Cold beer. I wasn’t really concerned with catching fish as much. I had a rare couple of hours where I didn’t have to be anywhere, do anything, and yeah! I caught that really nice walleye. I sent pictures to you guys because we were out the night before. I’m like “ha! ha! ha!” we got ourselves a night. I didn’t catch anything after that. That’s just what Em and I have been doing as we’ve been out and about. But I’m pals with Jarrid Houston. You can read Jarrid column weekly in the Duluth News Tribune. He’s also a very, very accomplished fishing guide (houstonguideservice.com) and he just sent me a text as far as what his fishing report would be. The Captain goes on to say…
Inland lake St. Louis River certainly still worth all the effort you can put into them. Though fishing isn’t as good as it is in May and early June, that’s to be expected. As far as walleye, they’re transitioning into their new summertime patterns and tactics for walleye right now have been early morning/later afternoon and evening as far as your windows of opportunity. Live bait is taking fish. Cranking hard baits has been the best recipe. You want to look for fresh weed edges and/or mid-lake humps. Also, good to look for switches from rock to mud, sand to rock, etc., etc. Panfish coming into a feeding frenzy right now, so use small worm chunks, small leeches, or crappie minnows underneath bobbers. It’s also productive to cast and retrieve small needle spins or small plastics. Bass and pike are relating to similar spots. You’ll find panfish. Large plastics ripped through vegetation or jigged over structure will turn you good fish. Shady areas, like underneath docks, is certainly a thing with the longer days we’re having now. And for Lake Superior, anglers are still sticking to the trolling programs — fishing 50 to 90 ft. of water. You want to look outside the mud lines and into the tea-colored water. Bright-colored stick baits and spoons are taking some good lakers, a few coho, and the occasional chinook brown. This bite should improve as we climb into summer.
JASON And as the Captain is always fond of saying, “be safe, have fun, and treat each other with kindness.” That’s Captain Jarrid Houston of Houston Outdoors.
EMILY So, musky season has just opened up! I just ordered a bunch of new musky lures and we also got in some rods and reels.
JASON Yeah, we did. We got in a couple of rods, couple reels, so we have an ample supply of musky gear if you’re looking to replenish your tackle box. Maybe you had a 60-inch beast snap your fishing rod.
EMILY Sure!
JASON What have you. We have some stuff here at the Minno-ette geared toward musky angling, and of course, Island Lake…we’re not going to give away any spots, but Island Lake is turning into one of the area’s premier musky waters.
EMILY I have had three people come up to me in the last week — or last two weeks or so — and say that they have all caught muskies actually by accident.
JASON Yeah! That’s the way I’ve always caught them. I’ve never targeted muskies. Frankly, it’s a lot of work! I sat out there one day with a guy casting bucktails and you know…baseball bats with hooks on them…by the time I’m done I’m like, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” But muskie fishermen are a strange breed, and I say that with all due respect. They are crazy about their sport. They are passionate about their sport, and I envy the heck out of them for what they do. So, if you need stuff we have it at the Minno-ette.
EMILY We do. One last thing before we wrap it up — I just wanted to make another plea for people to please send their “Wall of Fame” pictures — that’s any fish pictures. They don’t have to be record breakers, but we just really want to display pictures of people doing something that they find really fun and [enjoyable].
JASON Absolutely! Summer is short, it’s fleeting, and we want to see you having a great time out on the water up here in the Fish Lake/Island Lake area and wherever you are in Northern Minnesota. We do hope you find some time to stop by and visit us at the Fredenberg Minno-ette.
EMILY You can send those “Wall of Fame” pictures into our Facebook page. Our Instagram is just @minnoette, or email them to manager@minnoette.com.
JASON And then our website…
EMILY …minnoette.com! m-i-n-n-o-e-t-t-e dot com.
JASON Sorry, I didn’t mean to step on your toes. Yeah — minnoette.com. Is that going to do it there, Emily?
EMILY I think so! This has been The Minno-ette Podcast. We will catch you next time!
From the legendary Minno-ette in Fredenberg, Minnesota, this has been The Minno-ette Podcast!
