Lybacks Ice Fishing Keeps Tradition Alive With 70-Year-Old Jeep

Hank Williams Jr sang it best when he sang about family traditions "I'm just carrying on an ole family tradition". That's just what happened yesterday out on Lake Mille Lacs when the folks at Lyback's Ice Fishing used their 70-year-old Jeep to haul out the first rental house of the year.

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I took a moment to appreciate the history behind the moment shared to social media. That ol Willy's has seen 70 years of ice fishing, and this was the latest date it was out on the lake to haul an icehouse.

As tradition, the first basic rental went on the lake today with the Jeep my Dad had when this ice business started. This year marks the 70th year it has done it. We don't use it much as it's paid its dues over the years.

It's been the latest start I can remember in my 50 years out there.

We didn't have the ice like the bays had this year, so we couldn't get going like we normally do. Check the Ice/Fishing report at lybacks.com

According to Lyback's website:

Clark and Phyllis Lyback officially started this ice fishing business full-time in 1954. Clark had his “Willys” Jeep and 5 small rental houses. He actually started a couple of years earlier, but was called back to Honeywell to work. Clark and a handful of others were some of the first to have rental houses and actually plow roads out on Mille Lacs in the late 40’s, early 50’s. After WWII, and the advent of FWD vehicles like Jeeps and other small military trucks it became a possibility. Clark’s son Eddy took over the duties on the ice in 1976 and eventually purchased the business in 1984. And has been running it since. This year will be our 69th year on the ice.

Pretty impressive for a seasonal business like ice fishing to have the amount of staying power and success that Lyback's has had over the years.

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