GUNFLINT TRAIL – The building was the ugly baby, he’ll tell you.

It’s an oft-asked question as people pass by this iconic landmark in the mid-Gunflint Trail area. Ugly Baby Bait & Boats has been in operation since the late ’90s. It was closed all of 2025 as the owner, Scott Stahnke, 73, dealt with some health issues.

The Ugly Baby is back, one day ahead of this year’s fishing opener across Minnesota. The bait shop near Hungry Jack and Poplar lakes reopened for business Friday, May 8.

“We’re giving it a go,” Scott said, moments after the first sale of the season.

A local angler needed some fishing line, was the story behind the first transaction for 2026. Eight-pound monofilament would suffice. Lake trout and walleye were the target species.

It didn’t take long and other anglers arrived, this time a group of three from White Bear Lake. The trio pulled in before the sign on the front entrance could be flipped to open.

After looking over various lures, tackle, maps, and gear for their upcoming trip to Saganaga Lake for the fishing opener, a young woman with the group asked a question Scott has answered many times: “Who is the Ugly Baby?”

Scott says the short version is that he is the reason for the name, though it’s not necessarily personal. His folks didn’t call him that when he was born on the east side of St. Paul, he’ll say. Rather, the name for the business, located across the street from Loons Nest Coffee and just down from Trail Center Lodge & Restaurant, came to be as the result of a former neighbor. Scott said when he and his late wife, Diane, bought the business in 1997, a nearby property owner evidently took issue with the idea that a bait shop might be opening in the Mid-Trail area, telling the planning commission that he didn’t want to have to look at “that ugly baby” of a business near his cabin. Nearly 30 years later, that property owner is gone, and Scott and the Ugly Baby Bait Shop remain.

Scott Stahnke opens the bait shop for the 2026 season. Photo by Joe Friedrichs

Scott is known for his love of the local fishing scene, and his sense of humor. He continues to radiate positivity despite serious losses in his life. Indeed, life hasn’t been without its challenges on the Gunflint Trail. Diane passed away in 2016. Kia, the couple’s youngest daughter, died in 2022. She was 31. A familiar face to residents and visitors to the Gunflint Trail, Kia worked for many years as a server at Trail Center.

“She was wonderful,” Scott said of Kia.

Over the years, the family witnessed the power of nature up close and personal, Scott said. They were here for the blowdown storm in 1999, and the Ham Lake Fire in 2007.

“I was painting the outside of the shop and the fire engines just kept going by,” Scott said of the massive wildfire that started in May nearly 20 years ago, the result of an escaped campfire. “Then they shut us down for a time as people were being evacuated.”

The location of the bait shop was originally a retail store called Loon House Gift Shop by Jennifer and Kevin Walsh. The building was owned by Bruce Kerfoot. It was Kerfoot who sold the property to Scott.

Scott and his family were already familiar with the area, having vacationed to the end of the Gunflint Trail to recreate on Seagull and Sag for many years before they bought what is now Ugly Baby Bait & Boats.

Two anglers from north of the Twin Cities who stopped in for some last-minute tackle and several maps the day before the 2026 fishing opener said they always stop at Ugly Baby on their way up the Trail.

“I’ve been coming here for 20 years,” said Eric, a resident of White Bear Lake. “I mean, Scott is cool. I like coming in just to say hi to him is part of it.”

Chad Kieper and Scott in the bait shop. Photo by Joe Friedrichs

Another familiar face on the Gunflint will be assisting Scott at the business this year: Chad Kieper. A recently retired fishing guide, Chad will be on site a few days a week at least through the summer and into fall helping at the bait shop. He’ll also be doing some handyman work around the property and giving Scott time to rest throughout the long summer days.

“Scott knows where everything is in here,” Chad said May 8 from inside the bait shop. “I’m excited to be a part of this and help keep it going.”

Ugly Baby Bait & Boats will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., seven days a week from May through September. The bait shop has live bait, including leeches and nightcrawlers. They’ll likely carry minnows in the near future.

The business is located off the Gunflint Trail.

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