Transcripts

text | pdf |

---

TIM POST: It may seem unbelievable, truly unimaginable that in Minnesota, home to more boats than any other state in the union, there wasn't a museum dedicated to the sport or craft or art of fishing, until Albert got mad one day. He tried to sell an antique lure to a collector. A lure he knew was worth hundreds of dollars.

AL BAERT: After about 15, 20 minutes, he offered me $3 for it. So I went home and told my wife, I said, I'm going to start a fishing museum. Minnesota doesn't have one. Then, I called Morry, and said, Morry, let's go to work.

TIM POST: Baert's partner, Morry Sauve joined him. And now, a decade later, the two men have the state's only fishing museum. The display cases are bursting with everything that has anything to do with fishing-- Rods, reels, nets, and lures. Lots and lots of lures. Al Baert likes to show off that lure collection, all 6,000 or 7,000 of them. Baert's run-ins with collectors continue today with thousands of lures, many worth hundreds of dollars, he has to fend off some pretty enticing offers.

AL BAERT: The gentleman called and said, hey, I heard that you had a 94-92 spinner. I says, Yep. He said, I want to buy it. I f you can't buy it. It belongs to Brian Johnson. He donated it. He says, I'll give you $200. And I forget it.

It was weeks later, he calls, he's up to $400. Then, he got up to $600. And I said, you got a deal. He said, I knew everybody had their price. I said, my deal is that I'll put that in your collection so you have all the Winchester spinners that have ever been made. But then, you must take your collection and donate it to the museum. He hung up on me. I haven't talked to him since.

TIM POST: The idea here isn't just to collect the stuff of fishing, but to tell those fish stories. Here, the tall tales don't get a groan, they get a pedestal. With almost every item displayed, you'll find a picture of its owner, old photographs of families at the lake, or pictures of anglers in front of the cabin with the big one that didn't get away.

These are memorials to the love that Minnesotans have for fishing. Up in the museum's attic, Morry Sauve finds an old tackle box, painted white, showing years of color choices. It's a homemade tackle box, and it's quite a piece of work.

MORRY SAUVE: Then, everything opened up that way. Handmade. We don't know the year or the date, who made it. But it's pretty unique. It's one of a kind.

TIM POST: Morry Sauve says they put the priority on personalities. The memories behind each piece is what makes the museum special. It contains memories of fathers, mothers, grandparents, fishing trips, and the emotions that come just from the sound and feel of an old rod and reel

MORRY SAUVE: A lot of people use the new ones because they're more silent. But I like that old--

[FISHING REEL SPINNING]

That's this sound when you send the string out. And you go back in. They're silent going back in, but you can actually hear the whine to them.

TIM POST: Al Baert says it's been a rewarding 10 years in the museum business. He hasn't heard a discouraging word. And he likes the fact that this museum can appeal even to someone who's never cast a line.

AL BAERT: We have people come in. And they look at a display, and a kid will say, hey, that's grandpa. There's a lot of sentiment because people are very touched by the personal aspects of it. This is the important thing. It's a Minnesota fishing museum by Minnesota people

TIM POST: Al Baert and Morry Sauve, the Minnesota Fishing Museum's founders, will ask the legislature for a grant to fund a new site for the museum in the next couple of years. They hope to build a new 20,000 square foot facility. But for now, the museum is open year-round in a refurbished bingo hall west of the Mississippi in Little Falls. Tim Post, Minnesota Public Radio, Collegeville.