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Queen of the river by Mark Walters, An Outdoorsman's Journal |
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Hello Friends, Jim and Evie Overton ages 90 and 81, are living the dream life for a pair of retirees. Twenty years ago, when Jim retired from Oscar Mayer's in Madison, they remodeled their cabin on the Wisconsin River north of Portage into a year-round home. Jim took and still has a job bagging groceries at the local Piggly Wiggly for three hours a day. Evie became a full-time fisherman. She transformed her weekend hobby of exploring and fishing the river into a way of life. I met the Overtons in the late 1990's while attending Portage Presbyterian Church with my wife Laurie. A month ago Evie called and asked me to go fishing with her. I did just that. It's not every day that someone asks me to go fishing and already has a boat in the water, has purchased both minnows and crawlers and has lunch packed. A guy could get used to that. Today from the get-go was a unique as well as a learning day. Jim is not much for fishing, so it would be just Evie and me. We fished in an area Aldo Leopold once called home. Much of the shoreline has not changed in the last 50 years. Evie would have preferred to find her own minnows. She believes that catches more fish, but high water prevented that. Evie's style of fishing is simple and reliable, working out of the same 14 foot jon boat with a six horse Johnson motor that she's used for the last 30 years. |
Portage area resident Evie Overton loves to fish. Overton recently joined Mark Walters on a fishing outing where the two enjoyed a day on the river. ______________________ She works her favorite holes with three bait casting rods-one rod in each hand and the other close by. Each is weighted with about an ounce of sliding singers to keep it on the bottom. What Evie and I did was fish, explore, and tell each other stories. If a book should ever be written, Evie has the stories for it. She has more outdoor common sense that 90 percent of the men I spend time on the water or in the woods with. I appreciated comments like "I would rather fish than eat." We talked about the big boats of today that she sees on the weekends but rarely on a weekday. "There was a day when they slowed down when they went by you when you were fishing, but not any more," she commented. |
We talked deer hunting, which until about three years ago, both Evie and Jim enjoyed. They were able to hunt just about anywhere in the area. Then a man with deep pockets from Chicago bought five adjoining farms as well as the islands and posted them as no hunting. I have heard this story from a dozen other people. He has created a new oasis, since the deer move into the refuge each fall. It is amazing how one man can affect the lives of so many others. Every time Evie had a bite on her line, she knew what to do, jig until it's gone or they get hooked. The water was high and the current strong. In most cases, Evie insisted on tying off in deadfalls, places where tying off would scare most people. A disastrous bit of bad luck struck Evie three years ago when her fishing partners, Dudley and Mike Runkel met their fate on the Wisconsin River near Poynette. Low water kept the Runkel's from fishing near the Overtons' place, and a busy day kept Evie out of the boat on April 1, 2000. Evie has been both smart and lucky the last two years. She has had a hard time pulling the cord on her motor to get it started. She sold her rig to her podiatrist, Dr. Dale Barret, who keeps the boat within walking distance of her house. She has a new fishing partner since Dale wanted her to teach him as much as she can about fishing this piece of paradise. Thanks for the call Evie! |
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