NEAR MORSON, Ontario – He hadn’t gone fishing in a couple of years, but Toni Troftgruben of Grand Forks found himself the talk of on the Ontario side of Lake of the Woods last Friday, May 30, after catching a 28½-inch walleye just minutes into the morning.
A territory sales manager for Advanced Business Methods, Troftgruben was part of the Exchange’s annual Canadian fishing trip. The Builders and Traders Exchange is a nonprofit group of professionals in the construction and trades industries, and this year’s fishing excursion drew 48 guys. Most are members of the Builders and Traders, while others are friends or relatives of members.
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This year’s trip, a nod to history and tradition, marked the 75th anniversary of the Builders and Traders’ annual spring fishing excursions. The only year they missed since 1949 was 2020, when the U.S.-Canada border was closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Pat Heffernan, a trip organizer who is retired from Northern Plumbing Supply in Grand Forks.
A few members took an abbreviated trip in 2021 after the border reopened.
“We can think of a lot of events that mark 75 years, but we think it is rare that an event like this has stayed together for this long,” Heffernan said.
Joining Heffernan on the organizing committee are Jim Swingen of Grand Forks, retired from Swingen Construction, and Steve Wasvick of Bergstrom Electric.
Early excursions
According to Heffernan, who has compiled a partial history of the annual trips, the Builders and Traders went to Cedar Island, also on Lake of the Woods near Morson, from 1949 until 1982.
The paperwork on file starts in 1969, when the trip to Cedar Island cost $50 – $428.88 in today’s dollars, Heffernan says.
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From 1983 through 1985, the Builders and Traders went to Sunset Lodge at Oak Island on Minnesota’s Northwest Angle, fishing mainly Ontario waters. They switched to the Minaki, Ontario, area for a year in 1986, returned to Cedar Island near Morson in 1987, and went to Cedar Lake near Grand Rapids, Manitoba, in 1988.
There are a few gaps in the history from 1989 to 1996, Heffernan says, but the group went to Jake’s Northwest Angle Resort on Lake of the Woods in 1997 before switching to Obabikon Bay Camp in 1998.
They’ve gone there ever since, taking over the island in Miles Bay for three days beginning the Thursday after Memorial Day every year except the COVID year.
“They give us such a nice product, that why the heck would we go anywhere else,” Heffernan said. “It would be difficult to get 50 guys somewhere else.
“Jim (Swingen) and I have a rule that if somebody wants to go to a different camp, I’ll give them all this paperwork and say, ‘Have fun – Jim and I are going to Obabikon.’ I just love it up here.”
Keeping everyone contained on an island in the middle of Lake of the Woods also has its advantages, Swingen says.
“If you can’t find somebody, you don’t have far to look,” he said. “Just walk around the island.”
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The annual Builders and Traders fishing trip offers a chance to wet a line, sling a few barbs, talk a bit of shop (but not too much) and perhaps indulge in the odd libation or late-night card game.
Some of the guys bring their own boats, while others fish out of Obabikon rental boats. The camp provides guides, and the boats are divided into groups, each following a different guide to favorite fishing spots.
The Builders and Traders call the unofficial fishing contest the George Gardner Memorial Fishing Tournament in honor of George Gardner, a longtime organizer of the annual fishing trips, who made his last trip to Obabikon in 2007 at age 93.
He died the following winter at age 94.
The Daily Big Fish Contest is named after Clint Rodningen, a longtime organizer who died in August 2017 at age 75.
Troftgruben, who landed big fish honors – and ultimately the George Gardner traveling trophy – just minutes into the first day, transferred to Grand Forks from Minot last year. He was fishing with Jared Amason, a last-minute guide and owner of Obabikon Bay Camp, when he hooked into the big walleye shortly after they left the dock.
“I was just sitting there fishing,” Troftgruben said. “Everybody else seemed to be catching something. I got a bite and started reeling.”
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Amason, thinking Troftgruben’s drag was set too light, reached to adjust it when he realized the fish at the end of the line was heavy.
“He goes, ‘Oh (shucks), I didn’t realize you had that big of a fish on,’ ” Troftgruben said. “It was a good start to the morning.”
Honoring a legacy
George Gardner’s son, Terry, 84, of Burnsville, Minnesota, and grandson Scott, 59, of Woodbury, Minnesota, are trip regulars even though they’re not Builders and Traders members. Terry Gardner retired from Weyerhauser after a 33-year career, and Scott Gardner is president of Weekes Forest Products in Cottage Grove, Minnesota.
Terry Gardner has joined the Obabikon crew, “I’m guessing something approaching 35 years,” he said.
“I just enjoy coming up, and being with all the guys,” he said. “It’s fun to get with a group of 40 or 50 guys. They’re all having a good time, and I really enjoy people having a good time up here. If I had to say one thing, it would be that I feel good when people are having a good time.
“I guess I also feel some obligation to carry on my dad’s legacy.”
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Scott Gardner, who made his first trip to Obabikon in 2008, the year his grandfather died, has missed only a couple of years since. Two days of fishing is just right, he says.
“I love it,” Scott Gardner said.
The elder statesman on this year’s trip was Duane Pojar of Cleveland, Tennessee. Now in his early 90s, Pojar got to know George Gardner and others in the Builders and Traders crew in 1997, when he moved to Grand Forks for two years while working for Mortenson, the construction company that built the Alerus Center.
He’s made the trip every year except 2007 and the COVID year. Joining him this year were brother-in-law Mark Rikwa and son, Derrick, of Lawson, Missouri; and great nephews Cobe and Tate Albertson of South Sioux City, Nebraska.
Pojar drove 15-plus hours from Tennessee to Nebraska, riding with the Albertsons and Rikwas to Ontario.
“I’ve had some good experiences up here,” said Pojar, who has a reputation for catching big walleyes, including the 29⅞-inch beauty that won him the George Gardner traveling trophy in 2018. “I just keep coming back and coming back.”
Fishing with Obabikon guide Jules Gibbins, Pojar landed five walleyes over 20 inches the first day of the trip and finished the weekend with a 24½-inch beauty he caught within sight of camp.
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No bragging fish, but there’s always next year.
“It never gets old,” Pojar said.
As good fishing trips always do, the Builders and Traders’ 75th anniversary excursion went by too fast. Plenty of walleyes were caught, memories were made, bull was slung and fun was had.
“I think the 75th will be remembered for the weather we had,” Heffernan said. “The fellowship was outstanding.”
Added Swingen: “It’s quite a history in 75 years.”
With the 75-year milestone trip in the books, Heffernan, Swingen and Wasvick are ready to resume their 3 p.m. Friday gatherings at Rumors Lounge in Grand Forks to start planning next year’s trip, which is scheduled for May 28-31, 2026.
As Heffernan quipped, “Who has more fun than people?”
- On the web:
Amason’s Obabikon Bay Camp:
Grand Forks Builders and Traders:
Walleye winners
Here are the top walleyes in the Grand Forks Builders and Traders Exchange’s 75th anniversary fishing trip to Obabikon Bay Camp, held May 29-June 1 on the Ontario side of Lake of the Woods.
18th Annual George Gardner Champion
(Big walleye of the weekend)
- 28½ inches – Toni Troftgruben.
Friday Clint Rodningen winners
- First: Toni Troftgruben, 28½ inches.
- Second: Brody Peterson, 28 inches.
- Third: Jason Vosichek, 27½ inches.
Saturday Clint Rodningen winners
- First: Bret Erickson, 26½ inches.
- Second: Mike Compton, 26¼ inches.
- Third: Aron Pearson, 26 inches.
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