Little Oakdale Bait Shop's Focus is Big Fish

Josh Stevenson bought in 2004, just after he finished his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, but he started working at the shop long before that. Stevenson—who also works as a fishing guide—holds the record for catching the state’s largest tiger musky in Lake Elmo at age 22. The fish weighed 34 pounds, 12 ounces and was 52 inches long. Fishing legends like Dick “The Griz” Grzywinski, a mentor to Stevenson, still frequent the shop. In addition to running the shop and guiding, Stevenson sets up and rents out ice houses on Lake Jane.

Oakdale Patch: When did you first start working at the shop?

Josh Stevenson: They tried to hire me when I was 13, and my mom allowed me to work here on my 14^th birthday. At the time it was legal to work at 14, so that was like my big birthday wish to come up here and work. It was really fun. It was my first job. I really enjoyed it because I grew up without a dad and I didn’t have many role models of men, and when I came in here, it was just neat to be around a bunch of guys. A lot of them were really nice to me and kind of took me under their wing.

Oakdale Patch: How often would you come in here as a kid?

Stevenson: I came in here from 10 years old to when I started working here, but I just always biked in. I lived in Oakdale over by church and this was the closest bait shop. We just fished every day. We fished Tanner’s Lake a lot and Mud Lake and Lake Elmo and I would bike miles and miles as a kid to fish. It blew away the workers here. I never actually applied for a job here; they were calling my house.

Oakdale Patch: How did you find this place?

Stevenson: Back then there wasn’t any of the stuff that you see now. Woodbury was probably half its size. There was no Gander Mtn., there was no other place to go. Back then there were just bait shops. I think was the only other place around here that had tackle, but again, they didn’t sell live bait. This was a really busy place. Small businesses were flourishing back then. It was just kind of the place to be, and I was obsessed with fishing.

Oakdale Patch: What attracted you to fishing?

Stevenson: It’s kind of a mystery because my dad left us very young, he didn’t get me into it. My mom would bring me down to and she’d be sunbathing and I’d be at the beach there and I was just obsessed with sunfish and bass coming at me. I had her buy me a rod at maybe 5, 6 years old and was just always fishing next to her while she swam. I consider myself like a born fisherman. It just was a natural fit. I just was obsessed once I saw a fish and saw how fun it was to catch and reel them in. It just kept growing and growing, it became such an addiction. I was a pretty hyper kid growing up, too, and I still have some hyper tendencies and it’s a way for me to focus some of the hyper-ness about me. It’s a good way to have something to focus it in on, because you can keep casting you can keep thinking. I’m always thinking, kind of obsessing in a way. There’s always a new creative thought you can come up with or a new way to catch a fish. Fishing is such a never-ending learning process. There’re never two fishing days the same and there’s always a new way to improve or a new lake to learn and it’s so entertaining or educational on so many levels. I’ve always just kept that fire lit.

Oakdale Patch: I always thought of fishing as a more passive activity.

Stevenson: It can be, I guess it’s kind of your style. I think once you get hooked on it and understand the living creatures in the water, you think about them. You dream about them. You want to catch a bigger fish. You want to top it. It’s so fun having a fish on the end of the line and reeling that in. When you start catching fish, if you can put together good days, it’s really one of the funnest things that I think you can do while you’re on this planet in my eyes.

Oakdale Patch: What are your favorite lakes to fish on now?

Stevenson: I’m pretty much fascinated with the St. Croix River. I live in Hudson now, so it’s right by my house. The rivers offer so much. When it comes to walleyes, I just like to fish the Mississippi. When it comes to everything else, I like to fish the St. Croix River a lot. When the rivers fluctuate, I’ve guided on all of these lakes around here. If it’s my preference, it’s either there or lake Mille Lacs. I have a trailer on Lake Mille Lacs. It’s kind of my new playpen, for lack of a better term. There’s so much to it and there’s so much to learn.

Oakdale Patch: What have you changed since you bought the store?

Stevenson: Because of my obsession with the muskies, I made this a musky specialty store, so all of these two full rows are all custom, hard-to-find musky baits. A lot of them are baits that men make in their garages and that come from other small businesses across Wisconsin and Minnesota, and there’s generally lures that are not found at the big box stores, and they’re lures that really work. When I first bought Blue Ribbon, there wasn’t one musky lure in here and now we have more musky lures than anybody on this side of town. We never took away from the walleye and bass fishermen and the pan fishermen. We’ve still got all the stuff we used to have as far as accommodating everybody’s fishing needs, but we really specialize in the musky tackle.

Oakdale Patch: Do you have any changes on the horizon?

Stevenson: There’re lists and lists in my mind. I would like to expand the building somehow. I would love to start helping people winterize their boats out back. I’d like to either build a little shed or some type of protective work area so we could do that. People keep saying that we should have a little archery range so people could shoot. That would be a fun thing. It’s pretty simple to run. I’d like to do a lot more seminars, and have more contests. I’d like to get a Blue RLibbon ice fishing contest going. Propane is a very big thing for us. I think I would like to go into that market a little bit more, maybe service propane and service tanks. The first think I’d love to do is get a new sign out front. That’s what I’m working on right now.

Editor’s Note: This article is the second in a series on locally owned, independent Oakdale businesses. We’re doing this series in conjunction with Oakdale’s , a campaign to encourage residents to choose three local businesses they’d hate to lose and pledge to spend $50 total at those businesses each month. If you have a shop you would like to see us feature, email patty.busse@patch.com.