February 2012
"The Clipper"
E.L. Walstedt & Co
Minneapolis, MN
1930s – 1940s
For this month, I decided to feature a minnow bucket. But, not any old minnow bucket, but the “Clipper Heated Ice Fisherman’s Minnow Pail”.
Have you ever been ice fishing and you need to put a minnow on your line, and are forced to stick your hand in that very cold water to get a minnow out? Or, it is a very cold day and the fish are biting so you won’t leave the lake. But, the water in your minnow bucket keeps freezing over, making it hard to get your minnows out or possibly killing the minnows.
Well, E. L. Walstedt had the answer. If was a minnow pail that featured a built in wick holder and a compartment to hold kerosene under a removable fish bucket. Get to the lake, light the wick, and your minnows will stay nice and warm and the water in the bucket will not freeze. Not only that, but you can warm your hands on the outside of the minnow bucket!
How well did this work? I questioned it myself and thought it was a “luxury” that I would not need myself if I was fishing. With my luck, I would probably cook my minnows by boiling the water they were in. But, at the Northwest Sportshow in Minneapolis, MN last year (2011)…an older gentleman came up to my antique tackle display and asked if I ever heard of a metal minnow bucket that used kerosene and a wick for keeping the water in the bucket from freezing….
Yes, I did…but told him that I didn’t have the bucket at the show. The man smiled and said “I want to buy it from you. Is it for sale?”
It was not for sale as it was part of my collection, but the man started telling me stories about ice fishing in northern Minnesota and how he loved using his heated bucket on cold winter days. “I like to ice fish, and I am too old to move out a house by myself. I therefore just sit on the ice, and have for many years. But, my old heated bucket rusted through, and I can’t find one anywhere.”
He wanted one to use! I took his name and address and told him that I would see what I could find, but the minnow bucket he wanted had not been manufactured for many years.
A few weeks later, I was at a lure collectors show. And, what did I see…but two of the “Clipper” minnow buckets for sale. I picked out the best of the two, purchased it, and headed home with my prize. At home, I replaced the one in the collection with the one I bought, and mailed the minnow bucket to the ice fisherman as a gift (I sent him mine for it was in better shape, and I was sure it would still work).
A short time later, I got a letter from the ice fisherman, and he was very happy. He couldn’t wait to try it out!
Almost a year passed by, and the bucket was all but forgotten. Then, in late January of 2012, I got a letter in the mail. It was from the ice fisherman!
“Hello Mark from retiredlures,
Thanks to a very warm winter this year, I have not lit my minnow bucket for fishing yet, but I have been using it. Now that cold weather has finally arrived, I lit the candle inside and it has been working great. The fish are biting well now too. Thanks again.”
It sounds like that “Clipper” is still hard at work…and doing a great job.
A look inside the minnow bucket with the lid open so you can see where the minnows are kept.
A look inside when the minnow pail is removed. It looks like mine could use a cleaning...but it is nice to know it has been used!
