Sky on Fire

They say "red sky at night sailors delight", meaning that the next day should be great for being out on the water.  The last two days have been really cold up here.  Record breaking cold -- highs in the low 50's and lows in the mid 40's and its July!  They say when we get this kind of cold and wind that Canada left her back door open.  Please shut it! 

I went to the local community center for a night of bingo.  Of course it was packed -- it draws locals and a lot of tourists because its something to do.  I got close to winning one game.  It was different - if a number is called and any of your cards have it you turn the card over and if all your cards are turned over you sit down.  Last one standing wins -- it was down to me and another lady.  Oh so close!

Weeeeeeeee

Summer fun at the resort is going full blast.  The water tower is the favorite water toy here at the resort.  The first guy jumps down from the top and crawls out to the end and then the next guy jumps down and launches the first guy.  If you have a large body launching a small body the small one gets launched pretty high in the air.  Kids scream and beg to be launched -- then they get launched and scream and cry because they land pretty hard in the water.  Of course after all that they want to do it again -- go figure. 

Jim's been catching all the fish this past week.  I think I've only caught two to his many, many fish.  What burns me is I'm using the exact same setup as him.  Hopefully this week will be my week to catch all the fish!

They Are Watching

One of our favorite fishing spots is close to an island with a Bald Eagle's nest.  Jim happened to catch a really nice walleye that was over 25 inches while they were watching.  He also caught a smaller walleye that was too big to keep (over 17 inches) but was badly hooked.  He threw it back but it was obvious it wasn't going to make it.  Suddenly, one of the eagles swooped down and grabbed it and took it back to the nest.  Now we know why they perch over us.  They are waiting to be fed!

We are having Thanksgiving in July at the resort.  We are deep frying several turkeys and the guests are asked to bring a dish they love at Thanksgiving.  So between working hard on Sundays and getting ready for the feast I am getting to the blog a little late.  I made homemade stuffing and used fresh herbs out of our big herb garden here at the resort.  It's weird picking fresh herbs out of the garden for Thanksgiving!

 

Cute Babies

I have to say sorry to all those who got an email from us that was spam.  It didn't do anything bad to our computer so hopefully no one else had problems. 

We finally have baby ducks to admire around the resort.  I missed the baby loon or I would have gotten his picture.  Jim also saw a mother merganser duck with babies on her back  -- missed that one too.   These pictures are of baby mallards and the black and white ducklings are goldeneyes.  They are so cute when they are little.  They have to survive death from above (eagles) and death from below (northern pike). 

Summer is in full swing with all the families pouring into the resort.  The fishing is still good with some huge fish caught last week.  One guest seemed to have the knack -- he caught a 28 and a 29 inch Walleye  -- very nice.  We caught enough fish to have a fish fry for our fellow workampers.  One couple is from Louisiana and had never tasted fresh walleye.  They are still getting used to working at a fishing resort.  She never thought she would be saying --"someone left worms and leeches in the frig for anyone to take". 

Fish on Namakan Lake

 

This weekend started one of our busiest weeks -- 4th of July week.  We work the weekend so it was very long hours.  Now we have a few days off to fish.  We headed for Namakan Lake to fish.  We took a 30 some mile boat ride to the end of Namakan.  It's one of our favorite fishing spots because it almost always produces fish.   We both caught nice walleyes and some smaller eating size ones.  Jims walleye was willing to have his picture taken.  Mine jumped back in the water too quick.  The smallmouth Jim caught was huge.  Almost as nice as the ones we have caught on Mille Lacs, MN and around Sturgeon Bay, WI. 

The resort is very busy with every sort of water toy in the water and many small bodies playing their hearts out on them.  We get a lot of folks stopping by either by car or boat checking out the resort.  They all are impressed with the amount of stuff there is for kids and adults to play on in the water.    They also comment that its the nicest resort on the lake.  We enjoy working here even though Saturdays  are very busy and our Sundays are usually equally busy.  Its all we can do to get out of bed on Monday to go fish.  

Walleye on Lake Kabetogama

We both caught beautiful walleye.  Jim caught more than me and the biggest so he is winning.  I caught the most walleyes in the keeper size range.  You can only keep walleyes under 17 inches.  Of course most of the walleyes you catch are just over 17 inches which is frustrating for those looking for a walleye meal and having to throw them back.  We like to eat walleye but we like catching big fish even more so for us the fishing is great.  We've been using leeches trolling with lindy rigs which works the best when its windy.  We try to tell our guests what we have found works best - some listen, some don't but usually the ones that do catch something. 

It's finally summer weather with the temps in the 70s and now even low 80's.  The kids are playing in the water even though the water temp is only 70 degrees.  I'm looking forward to the water being warm enough for me to get in -- closer to 80 degrees is better for me.

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!