Row, Row, Row Your Boat at Wood Lake and Northwind Lodge

Back when I was a lot younger, all of our resort guests were here to fish.  Well, sure, there were some of them who didn't fish, but fishing was the focus and they fished a lot.   Not only did they spend a lot of time on Jasper Lake, they spent at least one day on Wood Lake as well.  Our Wood Lake boats were constantly rented out, rain or shine.  We all grew up on Wood Lake when motors were allowed and all the following years after President Carter signed the rider called Rare II which was slipped into the BWCA law taking motor use on Wood Lake and a few other waters away from us and our guests.  That move alone instantly took away a large chunk of our wood lake rental business along with our old-school customers who believed that rowing a boat was impossible and fishing from a canoes was too scary/uncomfortable of an endeavor to pursue.  So, faced with yet another federal law wiping out a good portion of our business we concluded a few things.   We knew who one of the major driving forces behind RARE II was since his family lived summers on Jasper Lake.  Since this was a last-minute "rider" signed into the actual BWCA Law PL 95-495 by Carter introduced by the guy who knew us and what closing Wood Lake would do to our business, we still suspect that this was a deliberate attempt to harm our business.  Why else would he push such a specific lake that was not part of the original bill?   Either he was out do us harm, or he's so oblivious and far-gone in his ideology, he had no clue as to what forcing this issue would do to us.  Who knows?

The main takeaway of this whole saga is that we managed to survive despite our losing a large number of lodge guests who no longer could accept the changes forced upon them by this man and his so-called environmental organization "for the good of the country".  In 1978, we began rowing Wood Lake boats and found that we would now go farther and catch more fish than we did before while using outboards.  With an outboard motor, we were always beholden to the amount of gasoline we could carry on the portage.  Plus there was always the threat of a motor breaking down or malfunctioning.  That problem evaporated with oars.  Without using a motor, as fishing guides, my brother and I learned how to fish a spot more thoroughly.  Instead of picking up one or two fish like walleyes and moving on, we would work the region harder to get more bang for our rowing buck.

The most difficult part today is getting people to understand that when rowing, one takes his time, fishes while moving and before you know it, you are a long ways from the beginning.  The other critical part of rowing the most do not understand is that dunking the oar blades deep in the water actually slows you down with each stroke.   You want to dunk in half the blade and break some of the water surface with each stroke. That requires less strength, allows for more repetition and supports forward momentum.  By the time you finish a deep oar stroke, your boat's forward momentum conks out.  

Also rowing "over there" and not fishing while you are heading there, is inefficient and a complete waste of potentially good water and calories.  You fish along the way, and if you find a fish before you get to a "hot spot", well, screw that spot!  Fish here!  With a motor on a boat, you most likely would never have tried that place nor would you have ever discovered what was there.  You would be too busy going fast over there to "the spot".

So, whether or not it was a deliberate attack upon Northwind Lodge to add Wood Lake to the BWCA with the sneaky, subversive, last-minute rider inserted into a 1978 bill in Congress, it backfired.  Yes, it did really hurt our business forcing us to adapt and change our technique and operation plus find new customers who were unafraid of fishing with a motor.  As a result however, we can really row a boat and have become very adept at handling a fishing rod with no hands and quick reflexes.  We ended up applying these abilities to guiding for many years on the Canadian side of Basswood.   We've all rowed a million miles and are perhaps in better shape than many people our age.  We also know from experience that there is no reason not to take a day trip to Wood Lake when you come up to Northwind Lodge.  If you can walk uphill/downhill, sit in a boat, move your arms for eight hours or so, and are comfortable with taking your time on the water, you'll do fine and have a great day. 

Here is what rowing looks like from a point-of-view perspective.  This alternating technique is how you want to make the boat travel for trolling and a steady trolling pace like this will make your arms looked a bit ripped when you get home that evening.  Developing your "cat-like" reflexes is also a plus.

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