At first, this huge holding pond (the Chippewa Flowage) was not thought of for its fishing possibilities; but a few individuals soon discovered the hidden potential of this unique place. Many old timers credit Harry Isessard for discovering that this new flowage was hot for Musky. After making one of the first known Musky catches here, Harry, who intimately knew the area before it was flooded, soon had no trouble catching lots of average sized Musky which were coming in from the West Fork of the Chippewa River. Harry did so well fishing where the river emptied into the flowage that he soon began guiding and in 1925 his family built one of the flowage's earliest resorts - Lassard's Resort. Another person who took advantage of the flowage's angling potential was Chris Lee, one of the workers who, in 1922, helped build the new wooden bridge for the old road that crossed the Chief River. During the project, Lee noticed great numbers of people fishing off the old plank bridge that was soon to be dismantled. After the bridge was completed and the flowage was formed, Chris Lee appropriated a shack that was left there and began to rent out boats. Other area resorts soon left their own boats in Lee's care to be used either
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