Pine Knot News - A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news

The four-day MEA weekend is a Minnesota tradition. A holiday without the stress and busy schedule of an actual holiday. By the time everyone rolled out of bed Thursday morning, I was heavily gauging...

Since the start of the 2019 fishing season on the St. Louis River in May, I’ve been fortunate enough to spend roughly 75 days on the streams, rivers, reservoirs and lakes in the region. I’ve str...

I had my article for this week almost completely written when I got a short and simple text from my oldest brother, Bob, on Saturday night. His wife Julie had boated a monster muskie. Exciting, for...

I was heading back down the Gunflint Trail from a full day of guiding on Lake Saganaga, or Big Sag as the locals refer to it. I had a young couple from the Cities who were excited about the cooler of...

I stood parallel to the Cloquet goal line cheering on the hometown Lumberjacks football team Friday night under the lights of Bromberg Field. The moon struggled to break through the thick white...

My phone rang just late enough to make me nervous that something was wrong. I was right. My brother, Bruce, had fallen from his deer stand. He was in the emergency room. My heart raced. My mind...

Back to reality. The Baker household held tightly onto summer for as long as possible. But with two kids in middle school, one in high school, another off to college, and both parents teaching,...

I have a little secret my wife and kids already know. Sometimes, I have no idea what I'm doing. The last couple of weeks on the water, I've been making it up as I go. Some trips have worked out,...

My wife, Jamie, loves to put her fall decorations out at the first sign of autumn. A couple of cold mornings triggers her to journey to the recesses of our basement in search of her stash of...

We loaded the Suburban with most of the Baker crew plus an omnipresent extra child, and headed north. The big blue Lund stared back at us in confusion as we pulled away — it would remain unhitched for...

The fog rolled across the surface of the water as we slid Keith Nelson's Alumacraft into the coffee-colored waters of Big Sandy Lake. I relegated myself to the back deck of his boat. I was here to...

Stretching out in front of us, dozens of boats jostled for position, awaiting blastoff. My oldest son, Joseph, and I tucked into the back of the pack; based on the 200-300 horsepower motors...

Over the years I've fished them all. Collectively referred to as the "big four" reservoirs north of Duluth, they include Wild Rice, Fish, Island and Boulder. They all have their own personalities, and...

The freshly fried walleyes had barely hit the cake pan when they were scooped up by the masses gathered around our picnic table. A Baker fish fry was in full swing. In all, 25 friends and family...

The week started with a real emergency around the Baker household. Phoenix, our resident gecko, was out of food. Normally, we would run to Duluth and pick him up some crickets or tasty mealworms. It...

Our anchor tethered us to the rocks below. The current ripped underneath our bow and poured out the backside of the Lund. I threaded half a crawler onto my orange jig and plopped it over the transom....

I half-walked, half-skipped to my truck. I had just polished off my second week of teaching summer school. Much like the fish I’ve been chasing, I’m transitioning to my summer pattern. In the las...

Jamie and Hannah are long gone. Barcelona or maybe Madrid by now? David has been shipped off to Gunflint for some one-on-one time with Gramma and Grampa. It is mid-morning and the Baker crew still at...

The summer after my sophomore year of high school I packed up and headed north. I would spend my summer break along the south shore of Gunflint lake as a “dock boy” for the Kerfoot family at Gun... Full story

Bass, pike, muskies, walleyes, crappies, bluegills, and perch all spend a good portion of the early summer period buried in the weeds. Arguably, more game fish congregate in emerging weed beds than...

The sun had just dipped below the horizon when my rod doubled over. For the last half hour before sunset, we had battled several northern pike, but instinctively I knew this was our first walleye....

Jamie startled me awake in the middle of the night. She nonchalantly informed me, “You have something in your trap.” We peered shoulder-to-shoulder into the backyard. The moon illuminated a rec...

Minnesota fishing opener morning, my son Joseph and I arrived at Boy Scout Landing on the St. Louis River just past 5 a.m. The lower parking lot was already packed. We pulled in and found ourselves...

If you want peace and quiet, wait till Monday. Minnesota’s fishing opener congregates more fishermen per square acre than any other time of year on productive post-spawn walleye locations t...

The feedback I receive on my angling articles covers the spectrum. Most people appreciate my stories along with the technical information I share. Others enjoy my articles, but the minutiae of...