Pine Ridge Resort News & Views

Except for a couple of really hot, sticky days, our weather up north has been almost perfect this summer. Most days see high temps in the low 80’s with overnight lows in the 60’s. Perfect sleeping weather and great for getting out and enjoying the lake during the day. Predictions for next week sound hot and sticky but that weather doesn’t always get “up north”

Fishing has been fair to good the last couple of weeks. Guests have been catching some very nice messes of 10″ crappies, the bass have been biting fairly well and everybody that goes out seems to get a northern on their line at some point during the day. Walleyes are in their mid summer slump and are few and far between.

Unless you are Lou Halek, of course. Lou is here in her second of three visits to the resort this summer. On her first visit, during the 4th of July week, she spent some time on the lake figuring out where the fish were. This week, with husband Tony and her family here, she directed Tony out to where the fish were biting a couple of weeks ago. Where she soon connected with a 26.5″ walleye lurking within site of the resort. According to Tony, that was the biggest walleye Lou has yet to catch so there was some discussion as to whether or not to keep the fish.

When I showed Lou the “Catch and Release” hat she could have if she put the fish back in the lake, she promptly directed Tony to release the fish. Now Lou proudly wears her hat and a beautiful, healthy walleye lives to spawn another spring. Lou’s picture of the walleye is on our Fish Pics page of the website. Just to prove that the walleye wasn’t a fluke, she went out the next day and landed this 35″ northern. And, of course, it went right back into the lake also. Can’t wait to see what happens when she is back for her third trip to the resort this summer. See you in a few days.

Hey, I got to tell you about this incredible video that a friend sent me the other day. Here is the address. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIJtKxdRQzY

If that address doesn’t work, go to www.youtube.com and search for Dan Dunn. The first couple of videos that come up on the search are just great. I love to see a really creative person perform.

Donna and I went to see the latest Harry Potter movie last night and I really liked it. Fun movies. The last book comes out tomorrow and one of our guests arriving Saturday emailed me to see if they could have the book delivered here to the resort. I agreed under the condition that I got to read it first. She said I would have to fight her daughters for the book so I guess I’ll have to buy my own copy.

More later.

The week’s not half over and it’s been pretty exciting so far. Some very Big Fish!!! have been caught along with lots of other fish. Saturdays are usually pretty uneventful as far as fishing is concerned. Guests are busy checking in, getting stuff settled in their cabins, getting boats launched and generally relaxing. But not this Saturday. Before we could even get all the boats in the water, a giant muskie, lurking off the shoreline, bit into Ken Mickevicius’s crappie lure and the fight was on. Took about 10 minutes but he got it to the net. Got the hook out, measured it (50″), took a few pictures and turned it loose.

Great fish and what a great start to a fishing trip. There must have been something in the air that day because it wasn’t long after that Tom Jacklin, having only arrived a few hours earlier and fishing with son, Todd, landed this beautiful 4 lb. smallmouth bass. Exceptional fish. Tom and Todd have been fishing with us for many years now and this is the biggest fish I recall Tom catching here at the resort.

With such exceptional fishing at the beginning of the week, I should have been prepared for more. It came today. Greg Rein, his father, brother and sister have been staying here at the resort for about 6 or 7 years. Greg loves to fish but has never caught anything real big. He changed that today.

On consecutive casts, he caught these two largemouth bass. First cast brought in the fish on the left, 5 lb. 7 oz. Getting that on the stringer and feeling pretty good, he baited up again and tossed his line out. 4 lbs 11 oz. Back to the resort for pictures.

But that isn’t the end of Greg’s story today. As I was sitting here writing this entry in the Blog, Greg comes up to the office and tells me to bring the camera. Now he’s got a 36″ northern weighing in at 12 lbs. on the stringer. I’ll get a picture of that on the web site on our “Big Fish” page. He is trying to release the northern but so far the fish is having trouble.

And what about the ice cream? Every Sunday evening, all summer long, we invite our guests to our ice cream social. Our first gathering was this past Sunday. It was a bit cool but that never stopped anyone from eating ice cream. Here’s the proof.

That’s Todd and Tom Jacklin on the left and the Klingenschmitt family on the right. Hard to beat great fishing and families getting together at the lake. More later.

One of the things that I want to do with the Blog is to be able to show off our Girl and Woman Lake fishing. The best way to do that is with pictures of my guests and their fish. Some of the pictures will be those that I take here at the resort and others will be sent to me by my guests after they get home and get a chance to email them to me.

To start,I thought I would show two of my favorite fishermen with my favorite fish. Tom Jacklin and his son, Todd, are from Iowa and they have been fishing with me for about five years now. Bass fishing on our chain of lakes is very good and Tom and Todd spend lots of time on the water each day. I think every dock on the lake has at least one of their lures stuck in it by now.

So send me your pictures and I’ll get them posted on the Blog.