Finally Fishing

We finally got the boat in the water and caught some walleye.  A few were too big to keep but we did catch enough for our first walleye dinner.  It was scrumptious!  While we were fishing we watched the eagle sitting in the tree.  He was fishing in the same area we were.  We didn't see him catch anything.  I had to show off my fish cleaning abilities.  Not a great picture of me but a good one of me in action.

The water temp of the lake is now in the mid 60's so its warmed up quite a bit.  The big water tower and water trampoline were put in the water this past week.  Now the kids will be having a blast in the water until they turn blue.  That's ok though because they have learned to turn the sauna on and go warm up enough so they can go back in the water.   Oh- to be that young again!

Ellsworth Sculpture Garden Revisisted

A group of us workampers and one guest took our first pontoon ride of the season.   One of the new workamper couples that came on the ride are from Louisiana and our guest was from Florida.  The couple from Louisiana have never been this far north and after being here a month had not been on the lake yet.  We also took our Florida guest because the National Park tour boat service doesn't start until later in the month.  He really wanted to see some of the sites on the lake that you can only get to by boat so we took him with us. 

We went to the Kettle Falls hotel and had lunch, then we zipped over to the Ash River and stopped at the Ashkanam resort then we stopped at the Ellsworth gardens.   The ride to Kettle Falls was a little brutal.  It was cold -- in the low fifties - so more like forties on the water- cloudy and windy.  We gave the guy from Louisiana one of our winter headbands to wear that covers your ears.  He had never seen one before and liked it especially since the hood on his sweatshirt wouldn't stay up.  We gave our Florida guest a parka to wear.  We did forget about how wet you can get when the waves are high.   Some hot wild rice soup and a little alcohol helped warm us up while we dried out.

At least on the way back the sun came out and the wind died down so we could enjoy the ride.  We got to see three or four bald eagles along the way.  We managed to enjoy the sculptures without freezing to death. 

The Mighty Little Boat Launcher

Jim and the manager are launching the pontoon boat.  It's the first week in June and we are still trying to get all the resort boats in the water.  When we first came to the resort we were amazed that they used this little Tracker to launch every size boat.  It's also amazing that the boats are connected to the front of the Tracker so that you go forward instead of backward.  It confused Jim at first since he was used to backing boats into the water.
Our boat is in the shop getting a new onboard charger and some new wiring for the electronics.  The truck goes in for service replacing bad seals on the front axles.  At this rate we might get out fishing by July. 

Getting the Dock in Place

The guys worked on getting the long dock put in place.  They actually float it over with the help of boats pushing it.  The dock joins up at the empty space at the end of the dock in the lower picture.   Guests have been piling in and we were almost full for Memorial weekend.  Hard to believe a week and half ago the lake still had ice on it.
We have an otter again this year that swims by the docks to see if any fishermen left any minnow buckets full of minnows for him.  Their little fingers can open them right up.   I'm hoping to get a close up picture of him sometime.  Still waiting to get the boat in the water.  It gets fixed this week so it shouldn't be long now.  The walleye are spawning right now.   Very late but then so was spring.

Water, Water Everywhere

The ice is all gone but now there is water everywhere.  The lake is in the background of the top picture and you can see how the water from the rain around one of the cabins is making the cabin an island.  Its been raining for two days going on three and not supposed to stop for another two.  We have a river in the back of our rig.  We now have riverfront property.  Our boat is parked next to our rig and we might be able to launch it right from there if the rain doesn't stop.

Of course it had to start the deluge on our days off so we have not been out fishing yet.  One of our guests managed to catch some nice walleye and sauger off of a resort dock.  Our boat had a nice warm home for the winter up here at the resort.  It didn't bounce across the country for four thousand miles and wouldn't you know it something doesn't work.  The onboard charging system has gone out.

It's hard to believe its almost Memorial weekend and the weather still feels like April cold and rainy. 

Better but still COLD

There was no fishing opener this weekend up here.  In fact they were warning people that if they tried to get out to the ice and ice fish they would not be able to be rescued.  At least the snow is pretty much gone around the resort.   A few snow piles left but almost gone.  The lake is still half ice covered.  We are supposed to have guests this coming weekend.  Not sure if the ice will be out so that the docks can be put in to the water.  Jim and the manager had to get in the water with waders on and work on a boat lift.  The waders all leaked and the water so cold with ice still in it that they were both about frozen solid by the time they were done. 

Our boat was stored up here for the winter in a heated garage.  We haven't gotten a chance to look in every nook and cranny in the boat but it looks like it survived the winter fairly well.   We bought our fishing licenses and are getting anxious to get out on the water but it will be awhile before its warm enough for us.

Snow and Ice

We knew there was going to be snow on the ground and ice on the lake when we arrived but GeeWhiz.  The owner of the resort had a front end loader come in to clean the snow off the RV sites.  We got here on a nice warmish sunny day but that didn't last.  Its been cold, 40's during the day and high 20's at night which is as bad as it got in the dead of winter for us in Yuma.   At least we didn't get that snowstorm that dumped lots of snow to the south.   The owner of the resort has cancelled reservations for fishing opener because the lake won't be thawed in time. 

We did start working as soon as we got here.  There is always something to do to get the resort ready for guests.  We've been doing some painting, staining and cleaning inside the lodge.  We should be able to start cleaning cabins this week-- as soon as the water is on --- which the guys are working on but of course they have sprung a few leaks.