An Outdoorsman’s Journal

Hello friends, This week’s column is about a very progressive and hard-working couple that, over the last three years, has created Blade’s Baits and Tackle out of Kipling/ Gladstone Mich. on Little Bay de Noc. As you are about to find out, Paul and Lacy Bloedorn, formally of New Glarus, are about as busy as two people can be and also quite successful.

A week ago, I was checking out the website for this shop and I had the thought that I should give Paul and Lacy a call and ask them if I could hang out at both their shop and on the ice, as they also have rental shacks, and do a column about what they do to pay their bills. Today, even though I had never spoke to Paul and most of our communication was by text, I was driving north on Interstate 41 in an ice storm with dozens of accidents.

Friday, Jan. 27 High 30, Low 23

So, I arrive at the shop at about 2 p.m. and Lacy forgot I was coming. The lodging I was going to stay at was given out to a group of women fishermen that, at the very last minute, lost the original lodging that they were supposed to have.

I didn’t care as I had a sleeping bag, and I could sleep in the office of Blades Bait and Tackle.

To describe this business would be like this. Everything an ice fisherman or woman needs is here, and the place is so busy it is almost unbelievable. What was just as interesting is that one person is spending $6 and the next is spending $2,200.

Shortly after I arrived, I met Paul “Blade,” who spends much of his time on the ice with their sleeper shack customers. He’s moving shacks, maintaining shacks and transporting people and gear.

Most of my weekend would be spent on the ice and in Paul’s Honda 1000 Pioneer, which is a UTV on tracks. I was a grunt laborer and observer of a man that generally has his mind on at least a dozen separate thoughts and every part of the day was go, go, go. It was a weekend and fishermen from Wisconsin, the UP and their rapidly growing customer base of lower Michigan generally start their adventures on Friday.

A bit on the UTV. We drive it hard, move shacks that are literally 16-foot trailers with a tent over the top of them. A porch adds 8 feet. A separate trailer has a bathroom and the entire setup can be moved easily. The shack is made by Canvas by the Stitch.

Here is the advantage to this set up, The ice on Little Bay de Noc has not been friendly for pickups or large sleeper shacks that have a lot of weight. The group that was staying in the cabin that I was going to sleep in hooked up with Paul and Lacy and because their original outfitter could not get his shacks on the ice.

Saturday, Jan. 28 High 28, Low 19

The shop opens at 5 a.m. every day of the ice season until March 15. Then the Bloedorns head down to Florida to stay at their comfortable getaway on an island north of Tampa.

Until four years ago, Paul was earning a living as a financial advisor for Thrivent Financial and his office was in Monroe. Now Blade, who is 54, is burning the candle as hard as I have ever witnessed and is starting to have some serious thought of making Blade’s Bait and Tackle a year round business.

Today we were on the ice two hours before daylight, and we had a very unique task of transporting a few of the 27 women and their gear. They were spending the weekend on the ice that are with a group called Wisconsin Women Fish. We met these hardcore ice enthusiasts at the landing at Kipling and I was impressed from the moment I met them until we said goodbye two hours after dark. Several of the group were staying overnight on the ice in Blade’s sleeper shacks and quite a few had pop-up ice shacks that they were sleeping in.

At least eight of them had either a UTV, snowmobile or ATV and every one of their rigs was set up for ice travel and fishing. These gals travel all over the map fishing year round and they take their fishing very seriously.

For me, and most of you know I run hard from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, it was awe inspiring to watch Paul and Lacy Bloedorn do what they do as many hours a day as they do. Having been doing my outdoor gig since May of 1989, I will say this, eat well, find some getaway time and keep on trucking.

This shop rocks! Sunset