We're Overflowing

Probably because we had a record 10 feet of snow this last winter and because we've had LOTS of rain this spring, we are experiencing higher than ever water levels on the river and lake.  Rain is better than drought, but there is a limit.  We have some floating docks and we have some stationary docks that are floating that shouldn't be.  John has been putting boards to serve as bridges so guests can get on the docks without wading through water to get to their boats.  It's even threatening to overflow our boardwalk to the docks. 

Naturally we have a great mosquito crop from all the rain, but it has been cooler than usual too.  Just recently the temps are starting to go up and it looks like I might be able to have a tomato crop after all.  The blueberries are really enjoying all the moisture so we might have another bumper crop this year like last year.  We're trying to bake lots of blueberry desserts to make room for more blueberries in the freezer.   The sun is shining today and the flowers and vegetables are growing rapidly in the warmth.  I'm thankful to live in such a beautiful place.

Mighty Fine Catches

The fishing season began with a flurry of fine catches.  The Bob Wille group, which covered a two week period in all, came up with lots of walleyes over 27 inches including some 30 to 31 inches.  They were having trouble getting the smaller eating size walleyes they said.  What a terrible problem to have.  :)  I have always wanted to fish early in the spring when the fishing is best in the hot spots on the lake.  Usually we find ourselves overwhelmed with finishing up spring projects, planting flowers and the vegetable garden and regular maintenance.  

Bob overheard me voicing this desire and he immediately offered to take me out on the lake in his boat for some afternoon fishing.  I lept at the opportunity and grabbed my fishing rod.  Once parked at our "hot spot" , it wasn't long before I got a bite and pulled in a 22 inch Walleye.  Bob was regularly pulling in some nice fish. 

As I was reeling in a cast, my drag started squealing and my rod bent over.  I thought for sure I'd caught a big one.   Bob told me to stop reeling that I had snagged a log.  Oh, I was so disappointed.  He was able to free my hook so I didn't lose my jighead.  Next time, I caught a fish,  Bob asks, "Is it a fish?"  I said, "Yes!  Logs don't wiggle."   Next time he caught a fish, I asked,  "Is it a fish?"  I got an amusing look from him on that. 

 Soon after that I hooked my lunker, a 28 inch walleye, the biggest fish I've caught to date.  It looked huge as I pulled it up to the boat.  It really didn't fight all that much, so I was surprised how big it was.  We got it into the boat and some friends in another boat came along and took my picture before I released it again.  What a thrill!

  I decided to stop casting and just let my line down to the bottom, about seven feet and do some jigging off the bottom.  Shortly, I got a bite and excitedly reeled in an 18 incher, good eating size.  I got three more to fill out my limit and so we decided to head home and leave some for others to catch.   Bob had surely outfished me with all his catches, but his buddies teasingly told me the next day that Bob had nightmares about me catching more fish than him.  He's a good sport.

As you can see from the above pictures, their group got some mighty fine catches on Indian Lake. 

New Additions to the Dogyard

About four weeks ago, we got six new additions to the dog yard.  Lark, an extremely vibrant star on Joanna's racing team gave birth to five females and one male puppy.  Joanna was so excited about this breeding as the father of the pups is Riby, a super star stud from a consistent winning kennel near Duluth, MN.  It just so happened that this kennel was at the same race we were in Calumet, MI in February and Lark was ripe and ready for breeding at the end of the race.  Perfect timing. 

Joanna was really hoping for a large litter and lots of males as the males are typically bigger and stronger for racing, although females can be great pullers and leaders as well.  It's easier to take males to the races also since you don't have to worry about females being in heat and it messing up the heads of the males. 

Even though she only got one male in the litter, it was a good sized litter and all pups are healthy.  She went with an Arab sounding and desert theme for the names which includes, Warrior, Sahara, Sheika......

Joanna keeps a close eye on the pups, taking note of those that could be future leaders by the way they venture out without fear in exploring their environment.  She watches how they interact with their litter mates which shows their personalities and temperament.   And of course she'll be checking out their build as they develop, looking for smooth lopers with good angulation in the legs.  It looks like they will be a terrific addition to her racing team in the next couple of years.

What Fun!

Joanna and I had a most unusual experience this afternoon.  All our guests for opening fishing are now in camp, yet because of our cold winter, there really aren't but a few lakes open to fish.  They are eagerly awaiting the opening of Indian Lake which usually opens after the smaller lakes in the area. 

This afternoon we noticed large ice chunks floating down river to the rapids from the lake.  Joanna and I decided to take a boat up to the lake and see what was happening.  We left the dock and headed to the first corner to turn up river and were met with a large floating hunk of ice that totally covered the river for about ten feet, blocking our path up river.  It was coming right at us forcing us to back up and let it pass by. 

We pressed on encountering a river full of ice floes floating down stream.  It was like running an obstacle course to motor in and around them without damaging the motor as they were still five to six inches thick.  Finally we reached the lake and saw that it was about one third open, but not yet navigable. I've never gotten to see or experience the ice going out quite like that.  What a fun adventure.

Later on John and I took the four wheeler to the camp spot on the sand beach just a couple miles away to get  a better view of the lake.  It was open on that side of the lake and we could see ice piled up on the distant shore.   Most likely we will see open water in a day or two.  That will make our fishermen happy.

Good News

I don't have any pictures to post because I forgot to take my camera along with me this morning when I rode the four wheeler over to Victoria Lake.  The road in is quite good and the lake is open as far as I can see.  If it's not fully open on the far end, it should be in the next few days.

I then rode the rest of the way down to Barrel Lake .  There are still some some in spots with snow, but you can easily get to the landing.  It is open to the left of the landing into the river.  To the right there is still ice, but it should go in the next few days.

I then took a boat up the river to Indian Lake.  The ice is black , so I'm thinking it may open up on Sunday or Monday.  Not bad considering how thick the ice was this winter. 

All in all things are going well and there WILL be lakes for folks to fish in this week.

Ice Update

This afternoon, Joanna and I took a ride up the 325 road north to see what shape the road and the lakes were in so we could give an accurate update of the ice situation.  The road is thawed, but has some fairly deep muddy spots in several places.  There were also three places where water is running over the road, one which looks like it could do some damage to the road.  The MNR is aware of it and monitoring it. 

I stopped at Square Lake to take a picture and was surprised to see the lake still had patchy white ice on it.  I had hoped to get to Arethusa Lake to take some pictures, but just before I could get to the parking lot, we came across a very deep muddy spot which I did not want to try to navigate through even though I was using four wheel drive. 

Then before coming back to camp, we went down the road to Heathwalt just for a mile to see what Hearsey Lake.  That is a fairly shallow lake.  Half of the lake is open and the wind was pushing the ice to the boat landing side.  The road was soft in spots and really shouldn't be driven on yet. 

Though I believe Barrel Lake is open enough to fish on, I don't think the road is ready to be driven on.  I plan to run over there on Thursday with the four wheeler to check it out. 

Picture #1 is Square Lake.  As you can see, it is still quite frozen over with open water on the edges.  Picture # 2 is the Square Lake road.  It is good except for one little snowy spot.
Pictures # 3 and 4 are a swampy area on the way to Arethusa.
Picture 5 is a muddy spot on the way to Arethusa
Picture 6 is Hearsey Lake just a mile up the Heathwalt Lake road.  I thought surely that one would be open, but as you can see, it is not.  

Our weather forecast is still quite cold for lows with 30 degrees for Wed., Thurs and Fri. nights.  The temps will be going up dramatically on Sun. and Mon. with highs of 66 degrees both days.  That will help with the ice for sure, but I do not recommend anyone coming before this Saturday, May 17th because I honestly don't know where you would fish, except for our river up to the lake. 

Indian Lake will hopefully be open by May 31st.  We'll keep you posted with updates every two to three days. 

The good news is that we have running water to all the cabins now, so they are ready to inhabit. 

Making Progress

 

Today was the warmest day yet this spring at about 70 degrees.  It sure put a dent in our remaining snow and hopefully the ice on the lakes as well.  We've been so busy cleaning and renovating and repairing the cabins, that we haven't yet run up the road to see how the smaller lakes are doing.  Tomorrow, we will be gone all day to Dryden, so it looks like Monday will be our first chance to look around the area and see what's happening.  I will take some pictures so I can post them for you to see.  If this nice weather keeps up, we should be sitting good for opening fishing.