After watching a television documentary on Loch Ness, Neilson noticed similarities between the famous Scottish lake and his own Lake Pepin — both are about the same size (although Loch Ness is much deeper), both are surrounded by rocky bluffs and both have legendary monsters.

“They’re just a heckuva lot better at promoting theirs,” Neilson said of Nessie.

He claims to have seen the monster twice — The first time, he was out on the lake in a speed boat with his wife. They were the only craft on the water and the lake was “smooth as glass,” when suddenly he saw an enormous wake churning in the middle of the lake, about two feet high and 200 feet long, Neilson recalled.

“I have no idea what it was, but whatever it was, it was very, very large,” he said.

The second time he was driving along the lake and noticed what looked like a log, 15-20 feet long, floating in the lake. He thought nothing of it, until he realized that the log was floating upstream against the river’s current. He pulled to the side of the road and grabbed his camera, but by that time whatever he saw had disappeared.

“Those two things are still unexplained, but it’s an intriguing mystery,” he said. “That’s part of the fun.