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

Johnny Cash startled me awake. My eyes tried to adjust to the ray of light pouring onto the ceiling. Sometime during the night, my phone had fallen halfway under the bed, adding to my confusion. "I...

A couple of weeks ago my oldest son Joseph passed his driver’s test. Elated, he took his first officially licensed cruise through Cloquet. Atop the bridge over the St. Louis River, our Suburban’s tra...

A couple of times a week I would drop down the ridge behind my childhood home into the lowlands that led to Big Otter Creek. Having made the journey dozens of times with my older brothers, I was...

My dad is full of old sayings he keeps on hand, waiting to disperse them at opportune times. “Push hard, comes easy,” is one of my all-time favorites. Growing up, he would offer these subtle wor...

The last couple of weeks I’ve detailed techniques that shape the way I approach most days on the water. Power-corking and lead-core trolling are fantastic tools that I’ve added to my arsenal — both...

Last week I detailed the “nuts and bolts” of power-corking. Power-corking shines when fish are concentrated on a specific structure. When fish are randomly spread out across the expanse, it’s time to...

It’s an easy trap to fall into: fishing the same body of water, same time of year, same location, same tactic, year in and year out. Admittedly, the draw of familiarity is a strong one. I could t...

The regulations, they are a-changin' .... Starting March 1, on the Rainy River and Fourmile Bay of Lake of the Woods, a catch-and-release season will be in effect until April 14. This will discourage...

As I drive up London Road I have one goal in mind: to see for myself the villages of fishermen that have ventured gingerly out onto Lake Superior’s rare ice. My social media feed has been taken o...

It's officially winter, now that long weeks of frigid temps have finally set up the ice for safe travel on inland lakes. And, as truck travel begins, we enter one of the most predictable bites of the...

I know exactly where I was 20 years ago, pretty darn close to the day. I was standing on the ice in front of our family cabin at Birch Lake, Grand Marais, auger in hand. Jamie was there also; she was...

They call it ice trolling: augering a couple hundred holes across a frozen lake. The thought is to constantly hop hole-to-hole trying to find active fish. In reality, making Swiss cheese of an icy...

Once in a while I'm forced to come clean. Recently, with one eyebrow raised in curiosity, the love of my life casually asked, "Why is there a disco ball motor in the Amazon cart?" It's moments like...

Take one of those math compasses we all enjoyed so much in school and center its unnecessarily sharp point on a map of downtown Cloquet. Stretch out its metallic arm and locate someplace, anyplace,...

Most every Friday as I arrive home from work, the kids pepper me with requests. Inevitably the questions fall along a common theme. "Can so-and-so come over?" "Can we go do A, B, or C with them?" Or...

I stood swaying back and forth in the parking lot of PJ’s Little Store, half asleep on my feet, after a particularly long overnight shift. It was early December, and my brother Bruce was slated to p...

My Christmas wish is not for more stuff. If I'm honest, I have enough rods, reels, and tackle to last me until the Vikings win the Super Bowl. What I really want is what I already have: My wife, my...

My wife will no doubt agree that I’m full of great ideas. On this particular November Sunday I’ve decided I should chase some walleyes. That’s not the great idea — it gets better. I have sold myself...

I usually just buy my wife something I want for Christmas. If Santa happens to bring her a new trolling rod or shotgun that I can put to good use, all the better. With Christmas quickly approaching,...

I welcomed the early morning help from my oldest brother Bob in preparing my own shore lunch pack. It was my first day as a fishing guide, and I had enough to worry about. A guide’s shore lunch p... Full story

We are back to the beginning - 175 days later. Today is the Minnesota rifle opener, and the deer are there, but relegated to the back of my mind. The walleyes, as they often do, have won the battle...

The moon is full, pulling us like the tide. We really have no business heading over to Mille Lacs today. The Vikings just wrapped up another game and the afternoon is slipping away. It is the last...

The closest I ever came to a divorce was the afternoon I first made venison brats. Admittedly, it was a rush job. I harvested my deer in the early morning, dragged him to a nearby trail, waited for th...

I'm not sure how I convinced my boys, David and Joseph, to crawl out of bed this morning. The world was still dark and a light rain fell: perfect weather for duck hunting. However, late fall crappies... Full story