It's walleye opener...sort of

It may be the opener of walleye on Red Lake, but it is definitely not ice out . Even though our bay is completely free of ice, there is still plenty on the main lake. From what I can tell by boating out to the end of our narrows, the ice melting has made good progress in the last 2 days. Unfortunately, it still has a way to go. There is definite blackening and some candling, but it is still quite thick. I know everyone is asking the same question..."when do you think it will go out?" So, to make you happy, I am going on record and will guess the ice will be off  Thursday. Keep in mind I have no scientific reasoning or expertise in such matters, I am just guessing. All I know for sure is that it seems to be melting slower than past years. Come on SUN and WIND!!!

There were some bright spot to today's opener, however. Jeremiah got to chase down his first bubbles and he also put on his jacket by himself.

We also had our first guests of the season arrive today. We are officially open for business. Which means I am behind schedule! Lots of things still need to get done before the big groups arrive. Nice to see our friends again, though. They even managed to get out in the boat for a while and catch a few pike.

The real fish winner of the day belongs to our friend Sam and his son Kyle. They boated two really nice pike at the back of our little creek. Nice work boys!!

Kyle and Dad (Sam) with two nice pike.
37 inches and 38.5 inches. 

Jeremiah and Josie on the phone with Mother Nature.
Notice their reaction when they found out that there may
be a chance that Dad's first walleye cheezer may be delayed.

Luckily Jeremiah is a good negotiator. Our bay is now free of ice and the snow from the other morning is all but melted. The overnight temps are still dipping below freezing, but the afternoon temps are slowly improving and the wind is helping with the main lake ice break-up. My first Cheezer is still on schedule.

Camp is looking better everyday. There never seems to be a shortage of projects around camp during the early part of the year. And with both kids in full running and climbing stages, things seem just a bit tougher and slower this year. Eventually we will get our system perfected...maybe by August :) The main lodge and kitchen are 90 percent ready and if the weather holds, I hope to be putting boats and motors in the water soon. First guest are coming in 3 days - yikes!! Better get back at it.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again!! Travel safe.

We are off and running (sort of)

Hello from Black Bear Lodge. The family and I arrived at camp late Tuesday night. The camp seemed to weather the long cold winter pretty well. Aside from a broken water line under the main lodge and a frozen line to our cabin, opening the camp began pretty much as normal. We used the nice weather to our advantage and we got the trailer unpacked, buildings unboarded, and vehicles started. We even got some of the water running, which allowed us to clean the main lodge and kitchen and even take a hot shower (big treat!). But as in typical Red Lake tradition, if you don't like the weather, just wait a minute it will change. We woke up this morning to a snow covered camp. Yep that's right, I said SNOW. We got a good 3 inches of wet snow. This is not going to help us with opening camp or with the ice out. And speaking of ice...here is what we are seeing...our bay is 60 percent open right now and I predict it will be completely open by tomorrow. The main lake is a different story however. At last check in town ther was still considerable ice coverage and I would be surprised if it is off by this Saturday's opener. Warmer weather is in the forecast, however.

The day we arrived.

What we woke up to this morning.