Week 16 Wrap-Up!

Good afternoon RSL Family! Week 16 Wrap-Up!

Sunny and cool with a northerly breeze as I write this. Public service announcement: if you need a new passport for next year a guest informed me it can take up to six months so consider re applying earlier than normal. Photos were a little sparse this week. If I get some more sent to me I will adjust the blog accordingly.

The Original Rich Award was not handed out this week. Gene from Cabin 6 accidentally launched a musky rod fishing in Times Square by accident but not enough other issues took place to truly qualify for such a prestigious award as the Original Rich!

The walleyes were tighter lipped again this week as our anglers headed out fishing. We still had plenty of fish fries and take-home walleyes. Hopeless, Bills Point, humps off of Burnt Island and Little Duck, and a couple spots on Cedar were the best spots to catch walleyes. We had quality fish caught up to 28.5 inches and of course Callie seemed to nose her way over to any shore lunch being cooked. Hard to believe she is in such good shape.

Musky hunters were out a couple times this week while fishing for walleyes as well. They landed 3 muskies for the week biggest being 42 inches! We also had some nice Pike caught as well without anyone specifically targeting them. Small mouth bass were caught with ease while looking for walleyes as well. Brian from C-2 hooked a small mouth bass that a huge Northern Pike decided it wanted to eat. When the Pike hit the bass it slid up the fishing line and the Pike impaled itself on the hook that originally was in the bass. Both fish were boated and released! Nice job Brian (as if that was intentional)!

Week 16 Monster/Micro Fish tournament results: It was a nice day Sunday, and as the anglers went out to fish I had a feeling we would have a nice musky and pike caught. I was correct and that brought up a dilemma since we generally only hand out one hat for the combined trophy. Last BBQ of the year and both guys that had nice fish were named Mike and since we all know how great a name Mike is I decided to award both a hat. I guess the stars were aligned right. Mike from C-2 boated and released a fat 34-Inch Pike, while Mike from C-6 boated and released a 40-inch Musky! Nice job guys! Gene from C-6 fought a 5.5-inch Small mouth bass to claim the Micro prize, and Chuck from C-1 somehow won with a 19-inch Walleye. The walleye were not very cooperative today! Congratulations everyone!

This weeks recipe: I can verify these are all delicious!!

As Autumn sets in we're continuing staining, and preparing to put some of our boats to slumber. Our moose hunters are going to be headed up soon for their annual bush adventure!

Don’t forget to send those photos via Facebook, text, or email fish@rockyshorelodge.com

Week 15 Wrap-Up!

Good morning RSL Family! Week 15 Wrap-Up!

The leaves are changing and the lake as well. It’s hard to believe we’re in fall now, but alas football season started Thursday night and if you are a college football fan it has been a long time since last January! Baseball season is inching towards the playoffs and my trout fishing trip with my father and family and friends is approaching. I consider it my mini RSL vacation.

The Original Rich Award winner Cabin 2. The crew had a couple little mishaps that ended in a good way, so I’ll just share it here. Mike was holding a new fishing rod and started to lose his balance in the boat. Rather than falling into the lake he dropped his pole and grabbed the gunnel of the boat. Unfortunately for him he dropped his pole in the lake and said it sank like a lead weight. By pure luck Steve and the boys up in P2 were fishing in the same area the next day and Steve and Robert happened to snag some fishing line and started to handline it up and attached to the line was a shiny new fishing rod and reel. After an interrogation of Mike by Team P2 it was determined the found fishing rod was in fact Mike’s. Great ending to that story. The other event that Cabin 2 was involved in dealt with Todd. The gents said if something could happen it would happen to Todd, and as luck would have it we were called out to the lake because they couldn’t get their boat to start. As we approached their boat Todd’s hat blew off his head and his partner made a statement as if that wasn’t the first time. Fortunately said hat floated long enough so we could net the hat and I jumped in their boat and after replacing a fuse on the starter they fired up the boat and all was good! I know the stories weren’t that good. With that being said I forgot to mention in last week’s blog that we had a good portion of the camp down on the beach house dock and a seagull decided it wanted a minnow on a hook more than the angler wanted to get it into the water to catch a walleye. The seagull flew into the line and got caught. Seagull Whisperer Dean jumped into action and grabbed the bird to help it get untangled. Brian (C2 once again) went to assist Dean and the bird bit Dean on the arm. Brian grabbed the bird’s beak and squeezed down on Deans arm more instead of pulling the beak off Dean. A few kind words were said, and Brian pulled the bird off Dean! They untangled the bird and off it went with an empty stomach! I’m starting to wonder if Cabin 2 has a upside down horseshoe placed somewhere!

The walleye bite has been very light and anglers were chasing them all over the lake looking for hungry ones. We keep hearing there are tons of fish in there normal fall spots but in order to catch them you had to wait 10 to 15 seconds because they were grabbing the back end of the bait and being very slow to inhale the bait. Jeremy was having success with jigging raps and had better luck getting aggressive strikes using the jigging rap as opposed to a slower presentation. Same areas I mentioned last week were loaded with walleyes that were either light biting or tight lipped. It made for some head scratching of the fisherman. My buddy Ted came up with his Live scope and he let me use it out on the sandbar one evening, and as soon as we got to 30 feet I dropped my jig in and a huge fish came and smoked it. It ended up being a 30-Inch Pike or so as I didn’t take the time to measure it since I knew it was over 27.5 anyway. I was joking with the guys and kept increasing the size until the end of the week where I believe the Pike measured 46 inches haha. I’m working on my fish tale skills.

I know everyone up here understands Cedar Lake flows into Perrault Lake, but Steve was over by the burnt out bridge throwing musky lures with Charlie’s wife Kaylie and noticed the flow of the river was running back into Cedar Lake. Charlie said there are more natural springs in Perrault and our lake level is so low there just isn’t enough water entering Cedar for the current to flow normally. Very weird and interesting and might be one reason the fish have been more finicky.

Cabin 2 crew was named the Small mouth crew as they absolutely hammered the bass on a daily basis! Everytime they came in I asked and they would have some decent Pike and some very nice small mouth bass! It almost turned into a joke since they weren’t necessarily fishing for bass but wow did they catch them in bunches. Almost reminded me of our lawyer Lydia who always seemed to be the only one in the boat to catch bass while everyone else caught walleyes! Len caught another Musky on the sandbar fishing for walleyes! Nice job Len!

Week 15 Monster/Micro Fish tournament results: Was a beautiful day on the lake Sunday for our weekly tournament. For the first time since its inception we had a Cabin Sweep! Cabin 1 Ted, Tyrone (Ty), and Ryan rounded out the tournament! Ty caught and released a 27-Inch Musky! Ted boated a 10.5-Inch Walleye for the Micro prize, and Ryan boated and released a very healthy 27.5-Inch Walleye!

This weeks recipe:

We’ve got a full camp again this week and enjoyed our last bbq of the season as we turned the page into September. Time to prepare for moose hunting and earlier sunsets as we lose minutes each day. Tight Lines and safe travels to those of you coming up this month!

Don’t forget to send those photos via Facebook, text, or email fish@rockyshorelodge.com

Week 14 Wrap-Up!

Good morning RSL Family! Week 14 Wrap-Up!

We blew through Week 14 and with Bear Hunters in camp the pace was set at record speed! Some family (Julie my better half, son Max, Katie), and some of their friends were able to make it up for a week to a long weekend! What a blast as I was able to get out a little bit and fish while still assisting the Bear hunters. We also were able to have an impromptu fish fry as Dean and Len decided to cook fish for anyone who brought their fresh catch!

The Original Rich Award winner might be considered a bit of a stretch however, I’m awarding Mark anyway from C-2 since he almost forgot his crossbow. Granted he and Aaron had not left the country yet and Mark was preoccupied with a family event but I’m deeming him a winner. Basically, Aaron picked up Mark but not at home with all their gear. Aaron asked Mark if he had his crossbow (thankfully) and Mark said oh its at home which was 30 or 40 minutes the opposite direction of where they were headed. Potential crisis averted and thank goodness Aaron knew enough to ask the question as I was told Mark has a tendency to forget stuff! As the season wanes, I hope this portion of the blog continues to have winners and guests fess up to funny things that happen during their stay. Please keep the incidents to a minimum, maybe one minor hiccup a week would be beneficial to the writing of this blog every week!

Our Bear season fired up Friday evening and before we got back to Rocky Shore Lodge the text message came through saying Bear Down from Brian! Brian told us he was in the stand for about 30 minutes when a couple bears came in and started to feed. He had three bears at his barrel after he harvested a bear.

The bears were continuing to feed and if it wasn’t for the posse arriving and scaring off the bears he might still be up in his stand. The following day Witt got the biggest bear since Steve, and I took over from Mike and Chris! His bear weighed in at 350lbs dressed and let me tell ya getting it out of the bush was quite an effort! Great job hunters! All in all, the hunters sighted about 25 Bears in total while hunting! Although we didn’t hit 100% we had two bears and a clean miss due to a branch impeding the arrow.

Apparently I need to own stock in trail cams since everyone I touch seems to be irresistible to Bears. I have the culprit on camera this time though so I'll be on the lookout for him! I'm placing him on double secret probation! I know where you live buddy!

Walleyes are on the move and transitioning to fall spots. Our anglers are seeing them moving 2 to 3 feet above the bottom. Bills point is where we found them when Max, Wyatt, and I were out fishing. Seems Hopeless is starting to produce, and of course I’d be fishing on the sandbar in the evenings. We all fished the sandbar and although Julie and I didn’t get out much while she was up here it was great having her out and catching fish off the sandbar with me and the family. Max’s buddy Wyatt started off his week with a 28.5-Inch Walleye to start his first Canadian vacation! He also ended it with a very nice 25 or 26-Inch Walleye to end his week! Overall Walleye fishing seemed to be in a flux with all the movement.

Adam and Moose were up again chasing Muskies. Adam boated a 48.5-Inch Musky on their first day! They had some very solid follows in the 50+ and upper 40-Inch range! Moose had lots of follows and caught a ton of quality Pike while throwing lures for Musky! Amy from C6 also threw for some Muskies as the Girls Gone Fishing crew was back for their 20th season!

Week 14 Monster/Micro Fish tournament results: Another Sunday and another tournament. We had a two-timer win the Micro and Walleye trophy this Sunday as Luke (family friend) from P2 pulled in a 9.5-Inch Walleye to grab the Micro prize, and followed up with a 21-Inch Walleye to seize the Walleye trophy! Pauline from C6 boated a 23.75-Inch Pike to grab the Northern Pike prize! Congratulations everyone!

Dennis and his wife Sue from C-3 finally made it up to RSL after three failed attempts due to Covid and other circumstances.

Loved the shirt he was wearing! They took Bill out a couple times and enjoyed catching walleyes and not having to drive the boat around.

This weeks recipe: Len’s Bear Stew Yield: 6

§ 2 lbs. Bear Meat - 1 ½’’ Cubed

§ 2 Tbsp. Oil

§ 4 Cups Boiling Water

§ 1 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

§ 1 Clove Garlic, Whole

§ 1 Medium Onion, Sliced

§ 6 – 8 Carrots Sliced or Baby Carrots

§ 6 Medium White Potatoes, Quartered or Cubed

§ 2 Bay Leaves

§ 1 Tbsp. Salt

§ ½ Tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper

§ 1 Tsp. Sugar

§ ½ Tsp. Paprika

§ Dash Allspice

Thoroughly brown meat on all sides in hot oil, turning often. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, onions, bay leaves and seasonings. Cover and simmer (don’t boil) for 2 hours, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking. Remove bay leaves. Add carrots and potatoes, cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes or until done. Remove meat and vegetables and thicken liquid (corn starch and water) for gravy, if desired.

Hard to believe we’re through another week, and as we start staining and doing some small projects just looking around and seeing the leaves turning already is a quick reminder that fall is upon us and the end of another Great season isn’t too far away. Sun is setting at 802 p.m. today as we are now losing almost 4 minutes of sunlight a day up here. A little trivia in case you were wondering. Tight Lines everyone! Go Hawkeyes!