Want to go ice fishing in Minnesota's Northwest Angle?
You'll have to pass through Canada first.
Story published: April 2020
Most visitors to the Northwest Angle, a mapping anomaly on the U.S.-Canadian border, are either anglers interested in world-class fishing or adventurers eager to cross off visiting the only part of the contiguous U.S. that lies north of the 49th parallel. For Minnesotans interested in going to the most northern point in the state, they must bring a passport. That's because Angle Township is only accessible by land through Canada.
While One Greater Minnesota reporter Kaomi Goetz was working on this story, she had the opportunity to travel via bombardier across the frozen Lake of the Woods. Wondering what a bombardier is? You have to see it to believe it.
To drive into "the Angle," as locals call it, from Canada, you must then re-enter the United States at an unmanned checkpoint. Visitors are required to register with U.S. Customs and Border Control at a video-enhanced touchpad at an intersection called "Jim's Corner." It's also where visitors must call in to Canadian border officials when departing. Most locals use an app on their smartphones to register their border crossings.
From there, visitors usually head to one of about a dozen fishing resorts sprinkled throughout Angle Township or on one of the nearby islands. Most of the 125 residents make at least a part of their living from the area's tourism economy. Besides access to pristine wilderness, much of it held in trust by the Red Lake Band, the Angle is a gateway to the vast Lake of the Woods - and to world-class fishing.
It's what brought 21-year old Cole Shipman up from Minnetonka, Minn., instead of heading to a beach, like his other college classmates for Spring Break last month.
"Up here, the walleye fishing is unreal. You can't beat it, it's just one fish after the other after the other," he said.
While visiting the Northwest Angle, One Greater Minnesota reporter Kaomi Goetz shared a story about the state's last one-room public school where children in the tiny community - population 125 - learn through a form of mostly independent study until the end of sixth grade. After that, many are homeschooled, while others make a three-hour round-trip journey to Warroad, Minn., where they complete their studies.
Minnesota winters are getting warmer. And that’s worrisome to businesses in the northern part of the state that depend on cold weather, such as dogsledding firms in Ely. One one of the coldest weeks of the year, Kaomi Goetz ventured north to learn more about these global warming concerns.
