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W-File: gh_icefisherman.html
Type:
Ghost
Location:
Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin
Source: The book
Northern Frights by Dennis Boyer (published 1998) pages 32-34.
The Ice Fisherman
Dennis Boyer's Introduction
One of the pleasures of chasing ghost stories is the occasional
good-natured ribbing one takes during searches for sites and sources. A
total skeptic will give you a disdainful snort. A doubter will often
just turn away. And the bubbly over-eager source sometimes has other
motivations and needs that invite caution on the part of the story
collector.
But when the story collector finds himself or herself the butt of
wisecracks and giggling stage whispers, then it is virtually guaranteed
that a ghost story will follow. It is almost as if some sources insist
on distancing themselves from ghost lore by affecting a light-hearted
stance. It may well be that it is also their way of testing aspiring
folklorists to assess levels of pretense and academic constipation.
My zigzagging journey across northern Wisconsin had amounted to fairly
serious business. Even the stories with humorous components were laden
with cultural significance. By the time I pulled over at the
Rhinelander Beer sign near Manitowish Waters on Highway 5 J , I was
overdue for a ghost story told with a wink of the eye.
The tavern had a smoke-darkened knotty pine charactel: The faded signs
of long-gone and unavailable brews hung on the walls like memorial
plaques: WaIters of Eau Claire, Leidiger of Merrill, Farmers of
Shawano, Mathie-Ruder of Wausau, Northern of Superior, and, of course,
the original Rhinelander. The usual collection of dusty and moth-eaten
trophy fish and deer loomed in dark corners. Blue pipe I smoke snaked
its way the length of the bar. A lazy card game punctuated by grunts
held sway at a bottle-laden table.
Altogether, a perfect place for storytelling and story listening. Alas, it's gone now.
It was not given the dignity of demolition or even abandonment. Instead
it was rehabilitated. A ghoulish process that left it looking like a
surgically assembled collection of disparate body parts and amenities
calculated to fill the parking lot with Illinois license plates.
This story, therefore, also serves as a memorial to a once visited
place where a now deceased "old duffer" told stories. Avery knew
changes were coming and threatened to haunt the place with his laughter
and wisecracks.
The Story From The Old Duffer
Ghost stories? You're chasing ghost stories when you could be chasing skirts? You rode a motorcycle without a helmet, right?
So what kind of ghost story guy are you? The Loch Ness Monster and
aliens from Mars kind? Or the past lives and talking to your dead
Egyptian princess cousin kind?
Well, funny you should ask. It just so happens I know a ghost story.
Actually I've heard hundreds of ghost stories from the boozers and
losers in here, but I've only ever heard one that I give the benefit of
the doubt to. The rest come from eating raw onions at night or from
Wild Turkey with Leinenkugel chasers.
I give this one the benefit of the doubt because it was told to me by
the cleanest living man in these parts. He didn't drink or smoke and he
had low cholesterol. I'd be a total believer if it weren't for the fact
that he had bad eyes. He thought his wife - my sister - was beautiful.
He thought Hurley was a nice town.
So there you have it. Even a good man has flaws that color his
judgment. But he swore by this story. And he was a sincere man. A good
church man. Decent father and grandfather. Never cheated so much as a
paper boy.
Now this wasn't one of your rooted ghosts. Not stuck in one place like
the alleged wailing up on Papoose Creek or rumor of the headless guy
down in Powell Marsh. No, the ice fisherman ghost has quite a range. My
brother-in-law saw the darn thing on Circle Lily Lake, Dead Pike Lake,
Birch Lake, and Big Crooked Lake. Probably some others I forgot.
Now I'm a muskie fisherman myself. I've fished them with live squirrels
on wooden shingles for bait. Had to shoot some with thirty-eight
caliber revolvers just to get them in the boat. So a ghost icefishing
doesn't impress me a whole lot.
I never liked icefishing much. A time or two with the grandkids each
winter does it for me. I mean just standing out there in the cold. The
Good Lord never intended it. He gave us a brain, right? The way I look
at it, these chronic ice fishermen all deserve to come back as ghosts
on the ice. Let them all have icicles hanging off their buttocks. Then,
for them, hell will have frozen over.
But back to my brother-in-law's ghost story. It had to be one of those
died-in-the-wool ice fishermen. The ones whose wives run off with
vacuum cleaner salesmen and whose kids can't recognize them.
He's said to be out there all the time from the first solid freeze to
when the ice gets mushy. So four or five months a year is common.
What's unusual about him is the amount of times he's seen in the day.
Often in swirling snow. Sometimes in little snow whirlwinds. Almost
white-out conditions.
Of course he's seen in the moonlight and starlight too. He's there and
then he's not there. This, I'm told, is the way ghost fishermen
operate. They're usually visible only for a short time.
But ghost fishermen are a dime a dozen up here. Only we've got a ghost
ice fisherman. With the other ghost fishermen there's usually more of a
story. A name, some history, and sometimes an incident like a drowning.
Sometimes even a good physical description.
But with the ice fisherman ghost there's nothing like that. No
background. Just the ghost in his hooded parka. This simplicity makes
me partial to the story. I feel like I can trust that it's not loaded
down with things people thought of later.
If you're really on this ghost mission you'll find lots of these
outdoorsmen ghosts. Learn to sniff them out. There's always an old guy
telling the story, right? But he's usually telling the story about how
another old guy told him the story. And the other old guy is always
toothless, or missing fingers, or has some deformity.
Watch out for those guys. It's one thing to tell a story that maybe
didn't happen and then again maybe it did. It's different for some of
these guys. They like to manipulate people. Send them off on missions.
I say don't fool with those old guys. Forget the hints of secrecy and
hidden meanings. Find some laughter and a simple message. Like with our
ice fisherman ghost. My brother-in-Iaw found him to be a good indicator
of where the fish were. Better than a new fishfinder.
It worked for my brother-in-Iaw. He caught lots of fish. And it kept
his marriage happy. That's right. He didn't go everyday, all day and
then come home without fish. Women distrust that. Heck, he came home
early and cleaned the fish too. A stand-up guy!
So stick to the bars where you know you're getting part story and part
fully digested cattle food. Stay away from those lonely boat landings
at night. But you won't listen, will you?
This tavern will be gone soon. Heck, most of us customers will be gone
soon, too. Do me a favor, okey? Come back in a few years and see if
it's haunted. If I have my way, the ice fisherman will be here with me
and we'll both be haunting those Illinois yuppies in their tight
bicycle pants.
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