Dennis Anderson: 'Get off the river'

Dick (Griz) Grzywinski is one of Minnesota's best known -- and best -- fishing guides. In July, he and other guides were notified by the Coast Guard that unless they held Coast Guard "6 Pack" licenses, they could no longer guide on the Mississippi or St. Croix rivers, or on any of the state's many other federally "navigable" waters -- including Mille Lacs, the entire border waters, Upper Red, Winnibigoshish, Leech, Gull, the Whitefish Chain and Vermilion.

Forced off the water for the first time in 35 years, Griz two weeks ago enrolled in a course in preparation for the 6-Pack test.

The interview below details the predicament Griz and hundreds of other Minnesota fishing guides are in, as the Coast Guard without advance notice this summer began enforcing on inland waters a licensing requirement that is decades old -- but that has long been ignored by the government and guides alike.

Q When did you first start guiding?

A About 35 years ago. That's when I went full time. I guided before that when I was working a job. But 35 years, full time.

Q You're known as a river guide now. But for decades, you guided all over the state.

A I guided everywhere. My boat used to have a sign on it, "Have boat, will travel." I'd begin at the end of March in Red Wing. Then I'd fish the St. Croix for a month. Then up to Winnie and Leech until September, before coming back to the rivers and guiding until freeze-up.

Q And now?

A I'm older. I just stay on the rivers. I got rid of my Ranger (boat) and now just have a johnboat.

Q How old are you?

A Sixty-eight.

Q When did you first hear that the Coast Guard was enforcing its licensing requirements for guides on Minnesota's "navigable waters?"

A July 27. I got a phone call at home. I had been working on the river for four days straight. Usually if I do that, I take a day off and lay around the house and relax. I think it was around 1 p.m. when I got a call. The guy said, "Who am I speaking to?" I said, "Dick Grzywinski." He said, "Do you guide on the St. Croix and Mississippi?" He didn't say who he was. He said, "This is a warning. If we catch you tomorrow on the river ..." He told me, "Well, you got to have a license."

Q Josh Stevenson, owner of Blue Ribbon Bait in Oakdale and also a guide on the river, also was notified by the Coast Guard.

A He got a call the next day. "Get off the river," he was told.

Q Did you stop guiding?

A I was told I could be fined every day if I didn't. Now I'm in dry dock.

Q Where on the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers do you fish most?

A All the way to Winona, Lake Pepin, the backwaters everywhere between those spots, and everywhere north, too, to Red Wing and all the way up to Pool 3, Pool 2. The St. Croix, I fished that all my life. I fish Red Wing beginning the end of March. Then about the 15^th of April the fish quit there when the spawn goes on. I hunt turkeys for two weeks when that happens. The St. Croix opens up the beginning of May, and I fish near Prescott for that month. When the boat traffic gets to be too much on the Croix, I go to the Mississippi.

Q When the Coast Guard told you that you needed a license to guide on the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, as well as many other lakes and rivers in Minnesota, they also told you that a course would be offered to prepare for the test, but that the course didn't start until November. They didn't offer to let you work until then?

A They could have let us finish our year off, so we had some money to eat. But they wouldn't. I had to cancel all my booked trips. Plus the cost of the course, which was $650, I had to come up with that. So with about 20 other guys I started the course two weeks ago. The course lasted Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday one week, and the same schedule the next week. Then last Sunday we took the test. The material was supposed to be spread out over a longer time. But that's the way this course was run. It was an independent guy who taught it, and he did a good job. It wasn't the Coast Guard, though a Coast Guard guy was there one day.

Q When you walked into the class, did you know what it would be about?

A I didn't have any idea. I wanted to keep working. So I knew I had to take it. Our teacher was great. But I didn't do so good in the class. I went in there knowing that my education was junk.

Q What grade did you drop out of school?

A Ninth. I wasn't good at school. I like to hunt and fish too much. Most guys bring their books to school. I'd bring my rod or gun and put it in my locker. I went to the old Johnson High School on Arcade Street.

Q So if you were at school and it looked like a good hunting day what did you do?

A Take my gun out of my locker and hitchhike to Hugo. A kid could do that back then. I had my gun in a case, so it was OK. I'd hunt all day, then I'd hitchhike home or walk home, carrying rabbits and squirrels and pheasants. Them were the good days. You don't do that anymore. Then, at 16 years old I started working construction. I was a laborer at $2.75 an hour. When you were making good money like that, you didn't think about an education.

Q In the class were you given books?

A Yes, they handed out books. The big book was 348 pages. And that ain't counting the flash cards, which showed various boat sizes and types. Two green balls means do not pass on this side. Two balls and a triangle means restricted, unable to maneuver. Another sheet had all the different markers on two sides of it. Another was about barges and the lights they display at night showing how long they are. Mine sweepers, you have to know that one. The hardest ones are the horn signals for on the ocean, which tell where you're going to pass, on the port or starboard sides. To learn and remember all this in seven days is a lot. Also, if you pass, you have to buy all new life jackets, flares, marine radios, orange smoke signals and a Breathalyzer, I guess to test for drunken passengers. You also have to pass a CPR course and get a passport. And there are drug tests.

Q Did you study while in the class?

A Yes. Josh and I studied together for three days. Then we went back and we even stayed after the class with the teacher for an hour and a half. It's not an easy course. We're on inland waters here. I told the guy I drive a 16-foot johnboat. He said to just forget about my fishing boat. This license is for boats up to 100 feet.

Q You studied navigation, too?

A Yes. We worked on an ocean map of Long Island Sound. We had to figure out longitude and latitude. We had to figure out a ship's course. Then sit down and figure out the speed and how long it would take you to get to your destination.

Q Did you pass the test?

A I flunked. A guy from Duluth, I let him stay at my house to cut expenses. He has a master's degree and he flunked, too. Out of 17, we had six that flunked.

Q Do you think the course is overkill for guiding on inland waters? You've guided for more than 50 years and never had an accident.

A If you're in Alaska or Florida on the ocean, then ya, OK, I could see it. I've never hurt anyone guiding. It's overkill for inland guides. There should be a different class for us.

Q At any time did you think you would pass the course?

A I knew I'd flunk before I started. Reading and stuff like that, I haven't done that for years. I'm not ashamed of it. It's like anything. You don't use it, you lose it. I use the stuff I use every day. I'm the professor on the water. But when you don't read and write for 50 years, you lose it.

Q Do you do any recreational reading?

A Not much. When I get off the river, I load the boat up with gas. I load the truck up with gas. I drive home, clean everything and get the equipment ready for the next day. Then I eat and go to bed.

Q Do you think you know the Mississippi and St. Croix better than the Coast Guard personnel assigned to them?

A Hands down.

Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com