Download a photo of a double decker ice lodge.
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Bret Amundson is at Red Lake Nation fishing for trout and checks out a double decker ice lodge, then visits the Lost 40 SNA, a pine forest that has never been logged. “Exploring Red Lake” will air on Pioneer PBS Sunday, March 22, 7:30 p.m.; WDSE Saturday, March 28, 4 p.m.; tptLife Saturday, April 4, 12:30 p.m.; Lakeland PBS Saturday, April 25, 2:30 p.m.; and KSMQ Thursday, May 14, 7:30 p.m. It will also be broadcast on the Minnesota Channel, which airs on all Minnesota PBS stations, Thursday, April 9 at midnight, 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m.
Tucked inside the Red Lake Nation are four small lakes that are filled with rainbow and brook trout. Bret and friends catch their limit of 30 trout, ice fishing with guide Darwin Sumner, a Red Lake Nation Hereditary Chief, and his wife Julie Yeakel Sumner. The Band stocks the four lakes with 2,500 trout every spring and opens them to winter fishing for anglers who purchase a special license and hire a guide from Red Lake Nation.
Villages of ice houses emerge every winter on the east side of Upper Red Lake, an area managed by the Minnesota DNR. Bret checks out a double-decker fish house that rises above the rest. Families return annually to the unique two-story lodge that was built by Buddy Hillman, a third generation owner of Hillman’s Resort & Tall Tales Tavern in Waskish.
Then Bret visits the Lost 40 Scientific and Natural Area, a pine forest that has never been logged because of an error. When a public land survey was done in the 1880s, the area was mapped as part of a wetland or lake, so the area was never logged. The trees are 250 years old and many are over 100 feet tall. The Itasca County SNA hosts a variety of wildlife as well as eskers that are piles of gravel and debris left after glaciers retreated.
About Prairie Sportsman
Prairie Sportsman celebrates our love of the outdoors – to hunt, fish and enjoy recreation provided by our vast resources of lakes, rivers, trails and grasslands – while promoting environmental stewardship.
Prairie Sportsman’s team includes Cindy Dorn, producer/writer; Bret Amundson, host/editor; Dylan Curfman, editor/videographer and Max Grabow, assistant videographer/editor. The 2020 season is made possible by funding from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, SafeBasements of Minnesota, GrandStay Hospitality, Diamond Willow, Live Wide Open and Western Minnesota Prairie Waters.
About Pioneer PBS
Established in 1966, Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information visit www.pioneer.org.
