Lakes & Outdoors
Bait Shop Minnow Count Reaches ‘Plenty’
Tim declines to provide an exact figure, citing competitive reasons and fatigue.
MISQUAH — Tim Brevik confirmed Tuesday that the minnow count at Tim’s Bait & Liquor has reached “plenty,” a designation he said is more useful than a number and less likely to invite argument.
“If I say 8,000 minnows, somebody will ask whether I counted the shy ones,” Brevik said. “If I say plenty, people understand we’re ready.”
The opener inventory includes fatheads, shiners, leeches, nightcrawlers, waxies, hooks, bobbers, swivels, propane, coffee, ice, and the small red-and-white bobbers Brevik says no grown man admits to buying until his grandson asks for one. The new aerator was installed last week after the old one began making a sound customers described as either a bad bearing or a loon with regrets.
By Tuesday afternoon, three regulars had already gathered at the tank to observe the minnows and offer differing opinions about their moral character. One said they looked lively. One said they looked nervous. Brevik said both descriptions were acceptable, provided the minnows sold.
The store will open at 4 a.m. Saturday for opener. Coffee will be hot, licenses will be checked twice, and advice will be available at no stated cost, though purchasers are reminded that free advice is priced that way for a reason.
The report fits the larger pattern on the Chain this spring: cold mornings, soft afternoons, and a lake system waking unevenly from one bay to the next. Big Pelican has been first to draw traffic, Whitefish first to produce theories, and Mud Lake first to remind everyone that not all water wishes to be popular.
The Lake Association asks boaters to watch for loons, slow near channels, and use the landings as landings rather than places to hold reunions. Tim Brevik added one more rule from behind the bait counter: if a person has to say “I’ll only be a minute” at the ramp, that person will not be a minute.
By late week, the story had already changed in the usual way. The weather was a little colder, the fish a little larger, and every decision that had seemed questionable at the time was now being described as strategy.
