GARRISON, Minn. _ We're barely into our first drift on a breezy Saturday morning, and Scott Jensen is into a walleye. A good one, too, by the looks of it.
For his two fishing partners, both UND hockey fans, it's tough to take when a fisherman wearing a blinding-yellow Minnesota Gophers hoodie hooks into the first fish of the day.
At least he's replaced his Gophers hat from the previous evening with a Minnesota Twins cap.
"Don't lose that fish," one of his buddies blurts, in keeping with fishing trip tradition; or words to that effect.
We're in a boat with fishing guide Jason Freed of Baxter, Minn. Besides Jensen, of St. Anthony, Minn., there's Peter Howard of St. Paul and myself. The three of us, all hockey nerds, chose Garrison as a meeting point to watch the NHL draft and get together for a day in the boat.
Jensen's Gopher gear aside, it's always fun when we get together, whether it's on the water or in the woods.
This day would be no exception.
A social studies teacher and football coach at Brainerd High School, Freed is a partner in Leisure Outdoor Adventures, a guide service offering fishing excursions on lakes across central Minnesota. Leech Lake is their unofficial home water, but Freed and his six guide partners will fish anywhere from Bemidji to Lake Mille Lacs and all points in between, he says.
"I think being a teacher is a lot like being a fishing guide," Freed, 36, said.
It's all about education and patience.
