L & M Fleet Supply's 12th Annual Fish Fry

by Don Basista

MN Fishing Pros attend the 12th annual fish fry at L&M Fleet Supply

MN Fishing Pros Charlie Worrath, Bill Broberg and
Jason Boser were on hand for the
Grand Rapids L & M fish fry

L & M Fleet Supply had its 12 Annual Fish Fry at their Grand Rapids Store this past Saturday, which is held the week prior to the opening of fish season. Hundreds of persons attended the free fish fry, getting fishing tips from Area Professional Guides, Jason Boser, Charlie Worrath, Bill Broberg, Rod Dimich, and Jeff "Cubby" Skelly, who also assisted customers in selecting fishing equipment.

L & M Fleet Supply provides the fresh fish fillets, which are battered, fried, and served by store employees, the soda drinks, and all the ingredients and cookware.

L & M Fleet Supply employee preparing for the fish fry at the Grand Rapids, MN store

Fishing Guide Bill Broberg from Coleraine said "I love fishing and have been guiding for the past 22 years, and have attended all 12 L & M Fish Fry's, and this one is the biggest so far, we have went through 200 pounds of pollock fillets. We just completed fish frys at L & M Fleet Supply Stores in Virginia, Detroit Lakes, and Cloquet where we averaged 120 to 130 pounds of fillets at each store. We had a good turn out here in Grand Rapids".

Les Ollila of Grand Rapids, who retired several years ago as Regional Manager of the DNR Trails and Waterways, shopped for fishing lures at the store and had some fried fish saying "L & M is the type of store where you meet old friends that you haven't seen for a while and swap stories."

Eric Porterfield, Nashwauk resident and Assistant L & M Grand Rapids Store Manager said "L & M Fleet Supply hosts this annual event to promote the opening day of open water fishing and we have the professional guides on hand answering questions, getting fishing tips, and having fresh fried fish and soda, and we had a great turn out today".

This years fish fry conversation was not only on fishing related questions, but "Is Winnie going to be open?" and what effect the weather will have on opening day and the week following.

But as Les Ollila said about meeting old friends, there was a lot of hand shakes and hugs observed along with lot of stories overheard, and a great day for all that attended and participated in the annual event.