Johnny Midget is a legendary Saskatchewan bush pilot. It all started when he built a cabin for his family at Lloyd Lake. When his extended family wanted to come up regularly, he built more. One thing led to another and he started flying in guests and running the camp as a lodge.

In the late 1970s, Johnny sold Lloyd Lake Lodge to the Pliska family. Desi and Derrick’s grandfather went there for a fishing retreat in 1983. That first trip, Grandpa Larry went to Big Fish Lake straightaway and didn’t catch a single fish! Mary-Jean Pliska, one of the owners, told him no one ever got skunked at the lodge. She was worried he wouldn’t come back again. He told her not to worry, he wasn’t going to let a lake beat him—“That’s just fishing,” he said—and returned every year after that fateful evening. Desi’s first trip to the lake was in 1986 when he was 5 years old and Derrick’s in 1989 at 4 years old. Neither has missed a year since.

In 1999, the lodge changed hands again. Sam Qualls and Connie Furrlow had come up as guests, and like many before them, fell in love with the place. Sam was fascinated with bear hunting and the wild of the north, enjoying the lodge owner lifestyle for over a decade. Desi and Derrick’s grandfather found out Sam wanted to sell the lodge in early September 2011 and called his boys home the following weekend. As soon as they sat down, he announced Lloyd Lake was for sale and that they were going to buy it. The plane was already waiting on the runway.

Sam’s words to Desi and Derrick: “I was fortunate to own this place for 11 years, but it never should have been mine. It should always have been yours.” Like all great stories, there’s a lot more to this one, but it’s best heard directly from Desi or Derrick. Tearjerker alert: bring tissues!