My Grandpa Jiggs and Grandma Helen moved to northern Wisconsin in the mid 1940’s. Jiggs sold his soda pop business (Plymouth Spring Bottling) just after World War II because he was disgusted with shortages. They didn’t have diet sodas yet and without abundant amounts of sugar, production of soda was limited.
Jiggs liked hunting and fishing. He bought “Wildwood Lodge” located on lake Namakagon near Cable and Hayward Wisconsin. There was a central lodge and 4-5 cabins that were rented out during the summer and fall hunting season. Money came from rentals and Jiggs would guide wealthy Chicago fisherman on “muskie expeditions”. His son “Big Jerry” grew up with Jiggs and was part of the woodsy lifestyle.
Hayward, Wisconsin was the Muskie (formally called Muskelunge) Capital of the World. When we went to Hayward, there was a big ugly statue of a huge muskie jumping from the water chasing an airborne lure. I think the biggest muskie ever caught at that time was 73 inches long. I’m sure the record is longer now.
Now to Louie. Jiggs would fish a lot on Lake Namakagon. One day he was fishing on the far side of the lake opposite Wildwood Lodge along the shoreline into heavy weeds and dead logs. As the story goes, he thought he had hooked a log and after working the line for a while, the log under the water began to be drawn to the boat. If it was a log, Jiggs could draw it close to the boat and maybe save his lure. As he drew the log closer he became aware that it was a huge muskie fish. As the muskie got closer to the surface, he “came alive” and jumped from the water trying to shake the lure. He didn’t. The battle between man and beast lasted for 30-40 minutes and finally Jiggs was able to begin reeling the tired muskie towards the boat. Allegedly, the fish got along side the boat and was docile from exhaustion. Jiggs grabbed the large gaff hook from the boat and was about to jam it into the lower jaw of the fish and then pull him into the boat. As he reached the gaff hook into the water, the muskie made one last lunge into the air, he threw the lure and was gone. Exhausted by the battle, Jiggs could only lament about the one that got away.
Jiggs named the muskie “Louie” and began a life long quest to catch Louie. Jiggs would describe the size of Louie and I think in his own mind, Louie was close to the size of the worlds greatest muskie registered in Hayward, Wisconsin.
I don’t know if Louie really existed. Sometimes I thought it was a story to get a kid’s imagination going. Then there are times I believed that Jiggs really thought if he could again hook Louie, he might just gain some special place in the the “Fishermans Hall of Fame”. What Louie’s story did do was make every fishing trip exciting because there was always the prospect of something very special happening.
I know muskies live a long time and get very long and large as they age. For all I know, Louie is still in Lake Namakagon and if you ventured to that lake, you too might have a shot at fame.
Dreams can be special things. If you have a “Louie” in you life, never give up on him. You may catch him someday. It is the fun part of living.
Love,
Dad