By Carol Stiffler
In recent weeks, Mick’s Bait Shop in Curtis quietly changed hands. It’s not obvious from the exterior; the sign still says “Mick’s Bait Shop” and it feels the same as ever. Go inside these days and you’ll be greeted by Todd Gilsdorf, a friendly and sociable retiree who spent three decades running an auto repair shop in Toledo, Ohio.
Gilsdorf had been visiting Curtis “for forever”, he said, and met a woman in Grand Marais six years ago. He married her, and the couple sold their Ohio and Indiana-based assets – his auto repair shop and rental units, her house. Two and a half years ago, he and his wife, Stephanie, moved to the McMillan area.
Last year Gilsdorf noticed a cabin for sale just behind the shop and when he asked realtor Betsy Pollaski about it, he learned the cabin was for sale with the bait shop – two properties for one price.
That felt like fate.
“I always said ‘When I retire I might get a bait store,’” Gilsdorf said. And he did.
Gilsdorf, 56, wasn’t ready to sit around anyway. He enjoys fishing and knows his stuff.
“I spent my whole life fishing,” he said. “I used to fish every weekend.”
Now he works more and fishes less, but in the summer he plans to fish after work as often as possible.
He’s keeping the store much like Mick Treiber had it. He’s modifying counterspace and refreshing the interior. And he’s hardly modifying the name – it’ll be Mick’s Bait Shop 2.0.
Gilsdorf has talked to outdoorsmen from downstate and other states and when he tells them he’s buying the bait store in Curtis, they know just the one.
“I ran into, like, six people who knew the place,” Gilsdorf said. “A lot of people knew it was Mick’s, and I didn’t even say what it was.”
With that kind of notoriety, it made good sense to keep the name and carry on.
“I’m going to be carrying some fresh inventory, new updated stuff,” Gilsdorf said. “I’m going to get newer stuff in for them, but I’m still going to carry the old stuff that Mick had. And make sure I’ve got coffee.”
He’s even still selling baits made by Treiber, and has agreed not to begin making and selling his own there. Gilsdorf does plan to highlight and support local bait and lure makers, like Mr. Chrome Lures in Germfask, whose items he plans to stock soon.
“I’m all about keeping the Yooper stuff,” Gilsdorf said. “I can go downstate and buy stuff all day long…I’m more about small-town. That’s why I left the city. I had enough of the big corporations. I’d rather deal with locals.”
Gilsdorf describes himself as a hands-on person and was proud to be one of those auto mechanics that could fix anything. He doesn’t do much online and he hopes that customers and locals will come speak with him in person if they have questions or concerns.
He plans to be active in the Curtis community and will be involved in community events. He knows a lot of people in the Curtis community already, due to visiting so many times in his life, and feels like a local.
“I just love doing things for people,” Gilsdorf said. “If there’s something somebody needs done, somebody needs help, I’d help them.”
