05/09/2026
Good luck to all the anglers heading out for the 2026 Minnesota Fishing Opener! May your day be as unforgettable as the time when “grandma” could fish on the road! Feel free to share your fishing memories if you’d like!
This memorable photo features “Great-Grandma Rosa Petry”, a great-grandma to our President & CEO, Paula Diaz, and Internal Audit and Holding Company Secretary, Tina Rabe. The image was captured on Hwy 18 heading west out of Finlayson, on the bridge over Fish Lake. The road flooded and she loved to fish, so she seized the opportunity to fish right there on the road!
Grandma Rosa was a long-time owner of Petry’s Bait in Finlayson. The history of the store began in 1923, when Henry Petry acquired 160 acres of land for a service station in Finlayson. His son Sylvester and daughter-in-law Rosa ran the station, starting the bait business in 1952. At the time, their entire family would go out to hand-collect minnows to sell. In 1978, their son Calvin assumed control of the business, managing it until 2003. That year, the store passed into the hands of Craig and Shelly Skaff, lifelong locals who continued the tradition.
Here's to making new fishing memories and celebrating cherished ones!
