Wow! The fall fishing is really going strong. I took Cara and Will (my 13 yr. old daughter and 10 yr. old son) fishing on Sunday afternoon. We caught many walleye in 2.5 hours. I still wanted to fish for walleye, but the kids said we need to save time for musky fishing. So we fished for musky. Cara hooked a nice 46" fish at sunset to cap an amazing afternoon. Not bad for a first musky!

Great day of fishing

The Schulenbergs had a spectacular afternoon of fishing recently. Pictured here are Mike with a 42" northern, Peter with a 38" northern, Mike with a really nice smallmouth and Peter and Mike with Peter's 50" muskie. They also caught many smaller northern, bass and bluegill, all fish released.

The story of catching the muskie is interesting. They saw the fish in shallow weeds and Peter decided to cast a Rapala for it. The cast was perfect but nothing. He tried again and still nothing. One more cast and a bluegill hit the Rapala. Peter said "this is going to wreck it". With that, the muskie engulfed the bluegill and the Rapala! The blugill was a little chewed up. Way to go!

It is always great to see the Schulenbergs and other families and fishermen who really enjoy and make the most of our June fishing.

Here is nice shot of Bill T. with one of many nice walleye he and his family caught this week. The fish are very active as the water temp. rises into and through the 60's. We have had very good small mouth, blue gill, northern and walleye activity. We also had two muskies in the low to mid 40's caught off the docks this week.

Now that the water temp is climbing rapidly we are happy to see many people in the water swimming. Swimming temps have been along time coming with the cool spring this year.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend. Saturday was a little cool in the morning and nice in the afternoon. Saturday was a tough day to fish after a front, but we still caught some fish. We caught five eater walleye and a few small ones and four 18-24" fish. Not bad but we fished steady for five hours.

Sunday things got better with warm steady weather. Sunday was an absolutely perfect day with lots of sun and temp. in the mid 7 0's. We had family company who we took to Black Bay for a cook-out and crappie/bluegill fishing. The fishing was good. The bluegill bite was very good in places. Crappie are starting to disperse a bit but we still caught several nice ones and some small ones, mostly close to shore. Resort guests caught some good walleye out in front the resort. Bill caught and released a 26" in the evening just off the docks.

Spring Fishing

We do not recommend swimming in early May, but these girls said its not too bad!?

Fishing is off to a good start. We had a number of nice walleye in the 24-26 inch range for the opening weekend. We also had a number of nice "eaters" and a 42" northern.

Fishing was tough with wind and snow but the guys who spent time on the water produced.




Second week has produced more eaters and less large walleye.

The crappie are just turning on as the water temps rise. Will has done very well with some large ones (pictured) on a few separate outings. These are not the same fish. We also had a group come in yesterday with a very nice catch of crappie.

We have only caught a few bluegill. The water temp. needs to come up a bit before they get active.

The temperature was almost 70 degrees today! There is still snow in the woods and it is melting very fast. All the rivers are very full and flowing fast. The small bay next to the harbor has a small stream flowing into it which has opened it up enough for a few mallards to move in. The lake ice is very soft on top, but it is still pretty solid underneath. It should still be a couple weeks before the main lake ice goes out.

The nice weather has finally melted enough snow to allow spring prep work on the grounds and the cabins.

YMCA soccer began for Will today. A sure sign of spring!

Snow is melting

The snow is melting extremely rapidly. A combination of warm, sunny conditions and intermittent rain have combined to melt all of the snow off the lake and much of the snow from the woods. It has been a few years since the lake was snow free this early, which should let the sun get at the ice and melt it early.

The bare ice has give us some opportunities we don't usually have. The ice boating has been perfect! Few activities are more thrilling than going across the ice at 50-60 MPH on wind power alone. A number of people were up this weekend for their first introduction to ice boating.

We were also fortunate to have Rebekah and Elizabeth Chapman over to give dog sled rides with one of their teams. They have a number of teams which they race throughout the winter. Dog sledding is a great experience that everyone should try at least once. The dogs leap and bark constantly until the anchor is released. Once free, the dogs silently run across the ice or through the woods. Supprisingly, the beauty of dog sledding is silence and the scenery. People expect them to keep barking, but the don't make a sound. They also have phenomenal strength and energy. Thanks to the Chapmans!

Remodeling cabins winter 09

Winter remodeling is coming along very well.

Cardinal has new siding, windows, insulation,paneling, kitchen, bathroom, roof, deck and refinished hardwood floor. We just have a few last touches to take care of.

Breakers has new siding, insulation and windows so far and it will have a new deck shortly.

Sea Spray has its new deck and some windows. New siding, insulation and more windows are in the works.

We are nearing the end of the longest, coldest spell since 1996. Our daily highs this week have been -5 to -12 with lows in the -30 to -40 range with wind. Schools have been canceled or delayed starts throughout the area. We are really looking forward to the warm, sunny days of summer.

With the exception of this week the winter has been great. We are in the midst of remodeling Cardinal, Breakers and Seaspray. All are going great. Cardinal is all torn apart. It will have new windows, paneling, siding, kitchen, bathroom, roof and deck. The deck is large enough that we may even put a swing on it. We are just getting started Breakers and Sea Spray. They will both have new windows, siding, decks and partial paneling. This will make a nice accompanyment to the new kitchens and baths from just a couple years ago.

We have also spent a great deal of time working with the Ashawa Ski Club this winter. We have been rebuilding a very old cross country ski trail which begins across from our driveway. The XC trail is several miles in length. It was widened and smoothed by bulldozer and trimmed and finished by hand by volunteers using saws and hand tools. The trail is wide enough for a classic track and a skate lane. Both are groomed and ready for use.