Caleb Westphal hasn’t missed a Friday fish fry since 2013. Follow his never-ending adventures—sponsored by Miller High Life—HERE. This week, fish fry #562: North Lake Bear Trap in North Lake, Wisconsin.
I‘ve had minimal run-ins with wild bears over my lifetime. I saw both a grizzly and a black bear at Yellowstone National Park on the same day, but the grizzly was thousands of feet away in a valley and across a river, while the black bear scurried across the road in front of my vehicle as I was on my way out of the park. As a teenager, I went deer hunting in the Chequamegon National Forest outside of Phillips, and was always rather fearful walking out to the deer stand in the pre-dawn morning knowing there might be a black bear who wanted to bite off my head before hunkering down to hibernate for the winter. At least I had a rifle, but I never needed it.
But it wasn’t bears that one of the workers of the North Lake Bear Trap (W314 N 7770, #83, North Lake; 262-727-7120) warned of as they held the door open for a patron who was leaving. “Drive safe, watch out for deer,” they cautioned, as I looked on from table number four in the small eight-table dining room in the back of the establishment. I had noticed a number of cornfields and wooded areas on my drive there, so it made sense.
I’d been meaning to get to the North Lake Bear Trap for a while. Owner Lisa Petersen emailed me in February asking if I’d give them a try; I told her I would, and eight months later I finally made the time for it. Located in North Lake, a community formally in the town of Merton, the bar and restaurant will have been in business for a decade come Halloween. Petersen told me in her email that the building has been standing for 90 years and has been a bar well over 50 of them. (An online search informed me it was Naylor’s Bear Trap from 1968 through 2013.) Besides serving a Friday fish fry, Petersen said they are known for hosting live music and Sunday bingo.
There was just one other table occupied in the dining room when I ordered my Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet ($8), but not one open seat at the bar in the front room. I was asked if I wanted Korbel or rail, and went with Korbel, and also requested a small one, because my intuition told me that I would have ended up with a pint glass otherwise. Lightly muddled and symmetrical, it went down like a champ.
Pizza gets pushed off the menu on Fridays and fish fry is in, and is served from noon until 9 p.m. Offerings are the two-piece cod ($13.95), three-piece perch ($15.95), one-piece walleye ($15.95), four or five-piece bluegill ($16.95) and scallops ($16.95). Each comes with housemade chips, rye bread, and coleslaw. An upgrade to crinkle-cut fries or sour cream & chive wedges can be made for $2, and to onion rings for $2.50 and housemade potato pancakes for $3. A two-piece cod sandwich dinner ($14.95) with chips and slaw is also available. I asked about the availability of the clam chowder, but it wasn’t yet in season. I was feeling bullish for bluegill and placed my bet on it, and also upgraded to the pancakes. (Prices are cash prices—food paid for with credit or debit costs 4% more.)
The spread was in front of me in less than ten minutes. I unearthed the rye bread, which was buried underneath a pile of bluegill. At first sight it was obvious it was sourced well. Pulling it close, I found a thick, dark rye with a modest light swirl, halved and held together with a light layer of butter. It hit the tactile receptors of my tongue with a velvet softness.
The standard small-cup slaw was reasonably juicy, and packed in plenty of flavor despite no visible seasoning. With a hashbrown-like composition, the potato pancakes were a little toasty on top and broke apart easily, almost to the point of being crumbly. They had a mellow flavor, without onion, garlic, or other seasonings coming through, at least not enough to show up on the radar.
What stood out most from the meal was what I had ultimately come for: the bluegill. The four fillets were hefty, being both thick and having a large perimeter, and were fresh and flavorful. They were covered with the house Pabst Blue Ribbon-based batter, created by co-owner and Lisa’s husband, Mike. With a salty-sweet taste, it coated the fillets lightly, lifting them but leaving room for the star beneath. Dotted with bright sweet relish, the tartar was thick, and coordinated well with the fish and batter.
Early on in my visit I saw Lisa come in, and made sure to introduce myself before I left. She credited Mike and employee Aiden with being the crew that keeps the fish fry operation rolling, and said they were the only two back in the kitchen. I gave my condolences on the recent loss of Lisa’s mother. She said her mother’s encouragement played a large role in why they started the business 10 years ago.
The bustle of the bar continued to swell as I walked out the door, not long after 5:30, for a peaceful drive home without any interference from deer or bears. If you’re also up for a peaceful and scenic drive for a fish fry on a Friday evening, give the North Lake Bear Trap a try. I’m glad I did. Maybe watch for deer, but chances are high that the only animal you’ll have a run-in with is some big bluegill. Fridays don’t get much better than that.
Takeaways: Velvety soft rye bread; small cup slaw; break apart potato pancakes; hefty bluegill covered with thin, sweet and salty Pabst batter; they’re celebrating their tenth anniversary on Halloween; friendly service; isn’t too far from Joe Mama’s—a place I went at the beginning of the year that also isn’t joking around about their bluegill.
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