GaryOsberg.com

Good morning from Collegeville,

 I had a meeting with a caterer this week who also is the new President of the Minnesota Dark House & Angling Association.  He described in detail the concept of sitting in a fish house without windows, out on the frozen lake, above a sloping reef, staring into a six foot by three foot hole in the ice poised with a spear.  In his restaurant, The Creamery, in Rice, Minnesota, we were able to study a framed reproduction of a painting celebrating the “poor mans sport” that is only allowed in a few states.  The only fish that you can harvest this way are Northern and rough fish like carp.  The way he described it, you use a combination of a live sucker minnow in a harness and a carved decoy to draw the fish in.  Some of the old handmade decoys can fetch a fancy price.  He assured me that in a well built dark house, staying warm is not a problem.  You learn something new every day.  For more information go to www.mndarkhouse.org  

 The show this week is a live performance from the Palace Theater in Louisville, Kentucky.  Special guests include honky tonk angel and 65^th member of the Grand Ole Opry, Patty Loveless and genre-defying Kentucky singer song-writer Brigid Kaelin.  Enjoy the show.

 “Run your decoys high, keep your spear on your shoulder, and keep your foot off the rope.”  Unknown