A Family Tradition Continues

“All my life as a kid, my dad talked about this place called Aikens Lake,” recalls Dan Greteman, of Kirkwood, Missouri. “He would drag me to the All-Canada fishing shows looking for this amazing place he fished back in the 1950s––there was no internet back then to look the place up. Finally, we found the Aikens booth and there was Gerry [Turenne]. Dad started talking with Gerry and the two just hit it off.”

Dan’s father booked a trip for them to go up to Aikens in 1991, and in doing so started a multi-generation tradition.

“I thought I was in Heaven when I first got to Aikens,” said Dan, who over the decades has become a regular at Aikens on trips with his parents, as well as with his own wife, children and family friends.

Last week, Dan brought the Greteman gang back to Aikens Lake for another family trip.

“They did just about everything while they were here,” said Pit, whose family has become close friends with the Greteman’s over the years. “Dan’s kids had shorelunch at the Greteman Shorelunch site, they went swimming, cliff jumping, drank and played games in Big Molly’s, and went ‘diaper-fishing’ by wearing a lifejacket like a diaper and trying to jig up a walleye while swimming.”

As you can see, the heatwave we had last week did nothing to slow the Gretemans. Nor did it stop the group from registering a Master Angler and Century Club. Dan’s daughter, Alyse, had caught a 30” walleye back in 2003 as a 13-year-old kid guided by Pit. This time, her boyfriend Cameron came along on the trip and landed biggest walleye honors with a 29” trophy on his Aikens debut.

Congratulations, Cameron––a Master Angler walleye and The Century Club, to boot!

Over the years, Dan’s caught 5 Master Angler walleyes at Aikens, winning an Aikens St. Croix Legend Tournament jigging rod for the feat. This year, his kids got together to surprise their old man with a special baitcasting rod and reel to match his high-end jigging setup. They worked with Pit and Julie so that they could present it to him when they arrived at Aikens.

“Aikens is a special place,” Dan said. “I’m proud to say Gerry was about the best friend I ever had, and it’s cool to see what an awesome job Pit and Julie are doing to constantly make the place even better, which seems impossible.”

The Greteman kids had a ton of fun with each other up here, but they also made the days––and nights at Big Molly’s––extra fun for our staff. Our guides and waitresses hated to see them leave.

“Dan had a smile on his face the whole time,” said Pit. “And he was the catalyst on some of the parties, too!”