Up North
- Greg Papke
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
I'm writing this post on my way back from the 2026 ice fishing trip to Wisconsin with the Borgerson Clan. This is my favorite trip of the year for a number of good reasons. The fishing is good (at times) but the people and the vibe really make the trip.
Thursday 1/29 Buffalo, NY: fly out and it's +5 F outside. Arrive in Minnesota it's -5. Carter picked us up from MSP and we were ready to head "Up North".
Up North, I am told, is anywhere above highway 8 in Wisconsin. But the Up North attitude is more of a state of mind. It's a line you cross after-which you are ready to catch fish and drink beer.
Visited (of course) Jonzy's to stock up on Bush Light and beef jerky.
After a few games of pool a burger at Blacksmith's bar my memory of the evening gets a little hazy. Suffice it to say I went a bit too hard on night 1 and paid the price. I took the "Up North" attitude too far.
Friday was a survival day thanks to the night before. I hung on through the day and we caught some decent panfish and pike. Between us we kept 45 smaller fish which was enough for the fish fry to come on Saturday.
We went to Slim's house after a few more bars but I took it easy all night and went to bed relatively early after a few games of 31 back at the cabin on Balsom Lake.
Saturday was clear and cold with no wind. A beautiful day. The tents were in place and the tip-ups were out but the fish didn't get the memo. We kept less than 10 pan fish and caught no pike. The fishing was poor but the highlight was the weather. We had mimosas in the sun and threw the football around with 5-year old Porter. It felt like a beach day in 10 degrees. A bald eagle and 2 trumpeter swans flew by which was very impressive.
We headed to a local snowmobile bar called the Do Nothing Campground and we played some 6-handed euchre and of course had a few drinks. We again went to Slim's house for his famous fish fry. His generosity and hospitality are second-to-none.
Brodies friend Riley drove 4 hours and caught no fish so we put out 3 tip-ups at Slims as the sun was setting and a 30 inch Northern was eventually caught.
We played horse racing and some Queens and 4s with fun time had by all (and thankfully limited financial impact).
The best part of the night-other that the whole experience- was when Steven (Chris Borg son-in-law) broke out the guitar and played for almost an hour in the garage. He crushed it and we all sang along toasting to Douggie after almost every song.
Slim claimed it was the most fun ever had in his garage.
The whole trip was an amazing experience with wonderful group of people. I'm so thankful to have been invited to this family event for the last 2 years and look forward to any time spent with them in the future.
The "Up North" experience is tough to describe (and I was stuck in LaGuardia for 6 hours) so me and AI wrote a song to tell about it.
Enjoy:
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