'Fishing the Arrowhead with Frank and Pat'

New Web site offers fishing information, tips, recipes and more
        Virginia-Frank and Pat want you to go fishing and they are willing to do the work to make sure that happens.
        Week-in and week-out Frank Roark and Pat Peterson will be hitting the water, exploring new lakes across the arrowhead region, and recording their adventures.
        The results will be posted on their new Web site, www.fishingthearrowhead.com-a unique, localized fishing tool aimed at getting anglers to take a chance on a new lake or two.
        It's also a promotional tool for the areas that both men hope will attract anglers from out of the region to the area.
        "Basically we've been thinking about this since January.  We wanted to do something with fishing but (didn't know) how we could pull it off," Peterson said.  "then one day I was driving to the Twin Cities and I thought, 'The Internet.'"
        That thought turned into a full-fledged business by March when the site went online.
        Both men work at the Virginia Fire Department and that's where they met about nine months ago.
        They hit it off quickly, discovering that both liked to fish and spent many days on the ice this past winter angling and discussing a possible business move.
        The Web site, which is titled "Fishing the Arrowhead with Frank and Pat," has or will have information on lakes in north, central and southern St. Louis county, as well as Lake and Cook counties.
        Tips, recipes, events, pictures, sponsor links and descriptions of the area are also part of the package.
        The main feature on the site, however, is the Lake of the Week link.
        The two men will take a trip to a new lake each week, fish it, video tape the experience and post the results, the video and other pertinent information on the site.
        They are hoping to eventually cover just about every lake in the Arrowhead Region.
        "A lot of people want to come here or to fish (a new lake) but they don't know where the good fishing is in area," Roark said.  "We're going to (highlight) a different lake every week."
        So far, Peterson and Roark have featured Ely Lake, Rainy Lake, Breda, Tower, Coolidge Creek, Cloquet River, Sabin Lake, Elbow Lake, Elephant Lake, Pleasant Lake, and this past week they worked White Iron Lake in Ely.
        All the trips will be archived.
        When you click on a Lake of the Week link it takes you to a page that features the video and other information about the lake, including the date visited, the temperature, barometer, water condition, the boat launch, results, equipment used and the area's fished.
        There will also be a tips section and links to Department of Natural Resources lake information.
        "In a way we've kind of pioneered a new idea," Peterson said.  "There are a lot of fishing information web sites but they aren't marketed like this.  We have real video of people fishing different lakes."
        Having that video helps people see exactly wher Peterson and Roark are dropping lines and how they are doing it.
        "It's more helpful to view it for someone in the Twin Cities or someone from out of the area," Peterson said.  "We took the guess work out of it."
        But the site isn't for out-of-towners only.  Both men said it can be a valuable tool for local anglers who haven't had the time to try different lakes in their own backyard.
        "A lot of people are stuck fishing the same lakes all the time.  The same spots, the same hot spot," Roark said.  "We thought that if we forced ourselves to try new lakes each week others would to."
        The two men update the Web site every Monday with a new lake, Peterson said, and the information is all free to anglers looking for a place to go.
        The duo is hoping to sell advertising space to local businesses to subsidize the site and they already have several on board.
        When a person clicks to Lake of the Week, for example, information can be found on local businesses like lodges or bait shops that cater to anglers near that body of water.
        "We sell affordable ads or subscriptions to any business that wants to advertise on that page," Peterson said, adding that he would encourage any business interested in getting on board to contact them.
        There is also a recipe page where people can submit their own stuff as well.
        "This is a good time.  We obviously enjoy fishing and it's a challenge for us to get on a new lake every week," Roark said, adding that they've only been skunked once.