Three men, a Chisago City fishing business and the Minnesota Fishing Museum itself will be inducted Friday into the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame.
The breakfast ceremony at the Northwest Sportshow in downtown Minneapolis will honor Royal Karels, Bill Lindner, Bruce "Doc" Samson and Frankie's Bait and Marine.
Two other Minnesotans, Perry Good and LeRoy Ras, also will be honored at the Sportshow with their induction Saturday into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame. Dave Carlson, a Wisconsin outdoors journalist, also will be inducted to the national hall.
Karels is a fishing legend in the Brainerd-Nisswa region who was an early member of Marv Koep's famous Nisswa Guides League. He has more than 70 years of angling experience, starting as a young child at his grandparents' resort on Shirt Lake near Deerwood.
Lindner is a longtime outdoors photographer who has traveled the world. His underwater fish strike scenes and other photos have been featured in many sporting publications and consumer advertisements. His archives of stock photography cover more than 30 years of adventure, including shots taken in the jungles of South America.
In 2002, Samson won a walleye fishing championship that paid him $300,000. After that, he retired from his job as a family practice physician. He is known in walleye fishing circles as "Doctor Sonar" for his gift of teaching electronics to anglers around the world. Samson is a North Dakota native who now lives on Lake Osakis.
The Minnesota Class of 2016 also includes Frankie's, a Chisago-area institution for 40 years. The bait, tackle and marine store was started by Brad and Frankie Dusenka. Their father owned a hardware store in Chisago City; they started trapping and selling bait while kids. The Dusenka family added boats in 1972.
Tony Kennedy • 612-673-4213
