He quickly cleans the day's catch of walleye on the metal countertops in the resort fish house. What impresses him after a lifetime here is the sheer immensity of the lake. The area I know well is probably a 30-mile radius. There's a difference. People say they know Lake of the Woods.
Nobody knows it.
The Northwest Angle appeared on the nation's radar last spring when a group of residents announced their desire to secede from the U.S. and join Manitoba. The reason was a complicated dispute involving the U.S., Canada, Ontario, Minnesota, and international treaties. Angle residents say Canada has passed burdensome border-crossing rules while Ontario, fearing overfishing, has passed discriminatory fishing regulations. They say regulation of international border waters can't apply to just certain groups on that water. Resort owner Gary Dietzler, who also runs a restaurant called Grumpy's, says Ontario is trying to drive them out of business, and visitors to his resort are being penalized.