Yearning for the Good Old Days

I just had a party check out after staying one week here at Northwind Lodge.  Well, they paid up their tab and need to leave early tomorrow morning (Saturday) because of upcoming commitments.  Fortunately for me, I was able to talk with the parents and kids individually over the course of the week, and I gained some insight to the behavior and interaction of this family.

While I moved around the resort for various reasons over the course of the week, I found various members of this this family of six at the beach, in the store, and on the footpaths.  I saw the girls and mom out on the stand-up-paddle boards and water bikes, the boys were fishing with their dad and sometimes the whole family went out on the water.  They even took a trip as a family to Wood Lake which is something we rarely see these days.  Despite their arrival from a very windy day of BWCA rowing and struggling in gusts, they all came back smiling.  They didn't even look worse for the wear and nobody appeared ticked off.

In talking with the patriarch, I expressed how great it was for me to see an entire family enjoying their time together at our resort.   It is what I grew up with having been in the resort for my entire life and seeing mom & dad taking out the kids is "homemade meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy" to me.  He told me that they had a wonderful time despite the fishing.  Fishing went from a rather exciting prior week to a big weather change with high winds and slow fishing this week even when I expected it to pick up.  They caught fish, but those fish sure weren't yelling "catch me" by any means.  That's why it's called fishing and not catching.

Also, in talking with the dad, he said it was a bit tough for the first day and a half upon their initial arrival. All four kids discovered that they had no cell service or wifi everywhere they went.  His term was "the shakes" regarding the electronic social disconnection, and he said that after that malady passed, the kids began to enjoy the simpler things like taking out a kayak or a SUP and doing something with their muscles.  They also played Battleship and other board games as a family.  We need more of this in the US today.

Then, he expressed that he really liked the cabin because it was roomy enough and felt like a cabin in the woods - not a condo in a development.  The part he truly enjoyed was Jasper Creek as it passes by outside.  With the constant, soothing white noise after being out in the fresh air day after day, he said that his whole family slept like logs and that meant HE slept like a log.  He hasn't slept THAT well in a long time.  The solid sleep was one of the parts that I sensed really "made" the trip for this dad.

The final part of the discussion was at the cost of staying in Ely.  Given the fun they had all week, he could not believe that we had cabin openings.  Comparatively, he said, for what one gets in a vacation in Ely - real wilderness, a cabin in the woods next to a lake, a real waterfall, water toys and fishing - the cost of having fun compared to other areas was downright cheap.  For the amount of money they spent for lodging and outside activities like a guided fishing day trip, they couldn't even touch such an adventure in Disneyland or some other place.  He estimated that it would cost four times as much easily.   So, he was surprised that we weren't packed reservation-wise given the enjoyable, relaxing, stay they had here.

It was good to hear that again from a family.  With the changing times in the New Normal, we don't get to hear or see it nearly as much as we should.  And, I know he wasn't making it up as they made reservations for next year.   I look forward to their arrival next season!  

Have Faith - Unwind - Pay Your Dues - Catch Fish

For as long as I can remember, people have come here to fish.  Most usually stay a week.   Upon arrival, some of them get all upset after driving for 12 hours.  They run down to the lake bleary-eyed, jump in a boat and beat the water to a froth expecting all manner of fish to come hurling themselves over the gunwales of the boat.  Over the years, a few of them have had the unbelievable fortune of succeeding, but the reality of the fact remains that fish seldom do this anywhere, especially for somebody new to any particular lake.   That fact doesn't offer solace to some as they walk around with a deflated pout because their 347 days of exponentially multiplying expectations didn't present itself in immediate gratification via a boatload of fish.

However, as the week rolls forward, they usually catch a few here and there.  Enough to pique their interest so that progress gets them on the water, helping them refine their technique and dial it in for this lake.  Also remember that just because the fish bite purple green Spiffy-diffy's on Lake Pacodumptruck in Wisconsin is not a guarantee that they will do the same here.  The best thing one can do at Northwind Lodge is come over to the store and see what they've been biting on in Jasper or the region.  Bring along your tackle box and we can narrow down and separate the lures that work here from the lures that make our fish giggle and say "Seriously?!"

One of the most fascinating phenomenon I've seen here occurs the last three days of almost everybody's fishing on Jasper.  For as far back as I can remember, it seems that our new guests take about the three total days to figure out the "feel" of the lake.  Then the last three days, they run into fish.  It is not always, but it is "often" that the biggest, and the most fish are caught in the last three days of a guest's stay.   It begins Wednesday and goes through Friday.   I'd say that it is a combination of commitment, determination and good vibes.  Maybe they are sending out good vibrations and the fish are finally attracted to it.  That may or may not be so crazy sounding as I swear I know people who are "fish-magnets".  I think fish are drawn to them based on their vibes or magnetic field.  Those are the people who can tie a stick of chewing gum on their line with no hook and land a walleye.   I've been in the boat with those types of people and to test the theory I will tie on the same piece of gum, fish one foot from their line, and watch them catch everything while I stare in amazement.

Fortunately, I don't really care that much for myself; but prefer that somebody from my group is catching something.  I always figure my day will come and it has, many many times, but not yet enough for me to want hang up fishing.   Fishing is really Mother Nature's big outdoor casino.  You cast your line and see what you win. The difference from a real casino is that if you tied your knot properly, you usually get your lure back and cast it again.   A real casino just takes your lure and gives it to somebody else.    Despite having done this for all of my life, I still think "today is the day" at the beginning of each day that I get out on the water and cast my line.  You never know what you are going to get for certain.

So, I understand why it is that many of our guests charge out onto the water in a sleep-deprived and sometimes, ornery, state of mind.  They've waited a whole year for this and "Today is THE day!"  But just remember:  usually, the first three days stinks "catch-wise" and the last three days greatly improves.  One develops a feel for the lake at some subconscious level.   That isn't always the case, but I've personally witnessed it more often than not.  That is also why coming up to stay for two or three nights usually won't cut it.  You just start unwinding and you have to head back home.  Uggghh...   Northern Minnesota vacations for three days and two nights are a great way to run around and be more tired than when one arrived.  Just a thought from a seasoned Minnesota resort operator.

The Normans - Wood Lake Catch - Northwind Lodge Dock - June 2014

(this whole family is a collective fish magnet)

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Talkin' Fishin' with Northwind Lodge Guests

Yes, I know....talkin' fishin' with the Normans is like shootin' fish in a barrel.  These people are "fish magnets", but the really useful part is that after they've been on the water, I know that I have an accurate fishing report about the status of the lake.  After they hit the water and report back, you know there are a ton of fish out there.  This as opposed to more of our "non-fish-magnet" guests who might, on occasion,  declare various lakes in our area to be completely devoid of fish. After listening to Jake, his dad Bob, and mom Mary Sue, I doubt that you will get the sense that there are no fish in the waters on which they venture out.

Big sky and blue water are calling you for adventure!  Answer the call and come up!  Take a daytrip on the water and come back to your cabin at night!  There are not a lot of places where you can do this with very few to no people around!  However, you can here!

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On the Bridge at Northwind Lodge

Many of our guests have been coming to Northwind Lodge for a long time.  I've known the Normans since 1985 or so and we always look forward to their coming up from Grafton IL (way down there on the river) for a stay with us.   They are some of our best fishermen by far and always seem to have a good time despite the weather or worldly woes.  Their son Jake is a biologist working for the state of Texas in the fisheries department and runs around working with fish in his professional time and in his free time as well.  Their other son Jesse (not in the vid) is a newly married engineer at a nuclear power plant and couldn't make it up this season with his wife and new son.   Next year, Jess and family...

One of coolest parts of owning a Minnesota resort is getting to know our guests.  At some point, we commonly get to know four generations of a particular family in the "Ma & Pa" resort business and it is really something special that not a lot of people get to experience.  My wife and I are very fortunate.

This is a quick video of standing on the lower foot bridge that crosses Jasper Creek.  Many fun stories like this will be told for generations to grandchildren and as a resort owner, it's nice to be a part of this!

Come on up and see what it's like in the woods and away from that concrete jungle!   At night, there are no street lights, it can be pitch black and we can have bears.  Sounds terrifying?  It really isn't.  Just don't feed or pet the bear and you'll be fine.  Leave the beavers alone, too.

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Put in a Little Time on Jasper - Catch Some Nice Fish

The Norman family from southern Illinois are showing them how to do it again here at Northwind Lodge.  Bob, Mary Sue and son Jake have been pulling out some beeyooteefull smallmouth up to 5 lbs. and largemouth up to 6 lbs. and one 5 lb. walleye so far.  Northern pike have been hitting as well but nothing really huge has made its presence be known - yet.  Bluegills are really active in the new, upcoming weedbeds of Jasper.  Some of the best fishing for big bass has been in the shallows right in front of the river where Jasper Creek dumps into the lake.  That happens to be next to our docks.  Some of our guest have been pulling in really nice bass without even getting into a boat.

During this week the Normans are our only fishing group and they spent the day on Wood Lake yesterday with spectacular walleye and bass fishing.  Big fish, little fish, fish who climb on rocks were hitting hard all day during the high pressure and overcast skies.  It was like the perfect storm for fishing and they were biting all over the area.  Having a retail store like Red Rock here lets us find out where, who, what, when, and why in fishing details for the region.  Many people caught fish incorrectly believing that they only bit on leeches or worms.  They were slamming artificials like crazy as well.  So, you can go out and buy organic, live bait and lug it around with you, keeping it alive, or you can bring of box of undead lures and toss them over the side.  When the fish are biting, you will catch the same amount of fish with either and the undead allow you to use them over and over while forgetting them in the sun.  You come out ahead with the undead.

Salmo Hornets #3 in Rainbow Dace have been scoring big with walleyes and stream trout simply by trolling them on the bottom for walleyes with a rubber core sinker or 200 feet behind the boat for trout.  Black and gold, F11 floating Rapalas are also getting attacked by walleyes and huge bass.  Another great bass lure is the Yamamoto Senko, 5" worm rigged wacky style.  (that means hooked in the middle for those of you who don't know all that tech jargon of the southern bass world).  Just cast them out and let them sink to the bottom in bass country and  walleyes will come in and gobble those up as well!  Who knew!

So, if you like to fish, take a few days and come up to Northwind Lodge and hit the water.  But remember, to do well, you need to put in the time.  It's a pretty rare occasion where you can go out in one day, hit them hard and go home.  So, in my opinion, planning an overnighter will be a waste of time and money.  At least try to squeeze in three nights.  Check out our online internet specials!  You really need to get up north and get back to wilderness.  Or do you like being surrounded by a sea of people?  Click Here

Fishing Report 6-21-2014 - Internet Special Cabin Rates

Bluegills, large & small - mouth bass are officially biting on Jasper Lake!  Northwind Lodge guests are catching them right off of the docks with some pretty nice fish to boot!  It's been varied weather week and now we're experiencing some rainy days, but the smallies are on the spawning beds so there are some pretty big fish being caught and released.  Wood Lake has had some good walleye fishing as well, along with nice bass and some big northerns.  

So, whattaya waitin' for?  C'mon up and get away for a few nights with our Internet Special Rates for new customers!  Click Here to see the rates.  Note that we require a two-consecutive-night minimum stay in our cabins and that makes sense.  Staying one night affords you no time to do anything.  Fun & relaxation needs time so plan on kicking back when you get here - or run around like a squirrel looking for nuts during a forest fire.  It's you choice.  Come stay with us! 

Another Day on Wood Lake

It was a spectacular day weather-wise and instead of cutting firewood, finishing up a siding job, working on the website which isn't working quite right, designing an ad layout in Photoshop, fixing some known areas that need some repair, cutting firewood and stacking firewood, I decided that I wanted to go fishing on Wood Lake again.  I wanted to take advantage of the nice day and my dad agreed to come along with me and Delilah.  We were going in search of those big perch we found last week. They were bugging me.

So, pack up and head out we did.    My pack is a Kondos day-type pack and absolutely the perfect size pack for this kind of stuff.  I use it all year long and it goes everywhere with me from riding in the cargo sled behind my Skidoo to sitting in the bow of  our Wood Lake boats.  It's been in -30 below to 90 above and covered in frozen slush and summer rain.  My dad has the same pack and he loves his, as well.  For the price, nobody wanted to buy them when they were on the shelf in Red Rock.  Customers deemed them not to be "fancy" enough for the price when for $29 you could buy a cheap, multipocketed, multi-colored, book-style pack made in China. 

Our Kondos Outdoors packs made by Dan & Vicki Kondos of Ely are bigger and far more useful than a number 2 Duluth pack and very comfortable to carry.  They have a snorkel top with a draw-cord and a cord lock.   You can overstuff them and still get the main flap over the top if needed.  I've discovered a new use for them as well.

The portage today was really bug-laden and Delilah got really chewed upon yesterday, particularly her belly.  She's a tough little dog, but those bugs really made a mess out of that soft puppy skin.   In order to not make the little dog sick or devoid of more puppy blood, I stuffed her in my Kondos packsack.  I pulled the drawstring closed around her neck and put the pack on my back, with her cute little dog head sticking out and looking over my shoulder as to where we were going.  No bugs were going to chew her up on this trip.  Once settled in the pack, Delilah seemed to think it was an acceptable way to travel and nary a peep did she make.

I trotted down to the boats and bailed one out while my dad negotiated the trail in his 82nd year.  Of course there was approximately one million gallons of water in the boat.  I found it amazing how boats are like insulation in your house.  If it's working properly, it keeps stuff in or out without discretion.  A boat that won't hold water won't float, either. I'm sure there is a paradox in here somewhere, but this boat floats really, really well.

My dad arrives just as I'm floating the bailed boat and getting organized.  We pile in and head out to where those those jumbo perch were last week.  This time, being armed with Ugly Ducklings and ultra-fine finesse steel leaders, I figured they wouldn't have much of a chance.  

Upon arrival, and dropping our lines in with Ugly Ducklings and about twenty feet of trolling, my dad caught the first jumbo perch.  A few more landed in the boat and the northerns were in there marauding as well.  That's fine because we both like them and my wife Annette also likes northerns.  So, less perch, more northerns, made no difference.  Fresh fish from our cold water in northern Minnesota is all good.  

While cruising around the lake a fast as trolling about 1.5 miles per hour will take us with oars, a walleye, a nice smallmouth bass, and more northerns joined the stringer.  Despite the beautiful day with white clouds in the azure blue sky I had to aim the bow back for obligations waiting at Red Rock and Northwind Lodge.  Of course, apprised of our homeward intentions, the wind has to pick up from the south and make its presence be known to the guy dunking the oars.  Nonetheless, despite the wind poking me with a proverbial stick, we cranked  up our lines and I thumb my nose into the wind's midsection and pick up the pace of that boat.

Upon the final turn round a point, a canoe approaches, heading out into the main part of the lake.  The paddling men greet us with a friendly "How's it going?"  We said something about it being "fine", "nice day" and other pleasantries of  paddling on a wonderful day in the boundary waters.  Then, I noticed that something was not quite right with that canoe and it's paddling duo.  Their canoe was an older Wenonah Champlain and they were moving at a fair pace with bentshaft paddles that have been used for a number of years. They were still in good condition, but showing wear and tear brought on by years of use and landing on rocks and rugged terrain.  They were both Bending Branches paddles - BB Specials, 14 degree bentshafts. 

I yelled after them, "Hey, guys!  You are both holding your bentshafts backwards.  You are in effect 'shoveling' water and not pushing it." 

"Really?" they asked.

I said "Yup" and they turned their paddles to the correct position.  We chuckled, but in fairness, I did the same thing the first time I picked up a bentshaft paddle 25 years ago. It just looks like you should be using it that way until you analyze it.  Not everybody analyzes what they do, however.  Given the wear on those paddles, I was certain that these guys have been holding them backwards for a long time without even the slightest analysis.  But that wasn't the real surprise.  They flipped their paddles around and then I noticed the relatively "unbelieveable" part.  Their canoe was sitting strangely in the water as it moved by us. Holy buckets - now I'd seen everything!

"Hey, guys!  One more thing." I yelled into the crosswind.  "You are paddling the canoe backwards!"

"SERIOUSLY?!!!" , replied the truly surprised bow paddler from his cramped position sitting backwards in the stern seat.  It HAD to be ridiculously narrow for his knees.

"Yup!" I replied.  "You need to both turn around and paddle it forwards with the bow up front or you are gonna drown if it gets rough out."

By now, our opposite-traveling distance (and our amazed giggling) didn't allow for any more water-borne conversation with the backasswards canoe paddlers.  It really looked weird that the bow of that canoe would be about 10 inches high with the bow paddler seated right up to it and the stern would be about 22" high and a solid six feet behind the stern paddler.  It looked really strange because it really was strange.  As I continued to increase the distance between us, I watched that canoe move in zig-zags and confused circles as if they no longer knew what to do with themselves in that canoe on the water.  They ended up paddling in all directions of the compass and finally faded from view around the point.   It was like they lost all control in realizing that literally every move they made in the past 15 minutes has been completely backwards.  All they needed to do was pull up along the shore, get out and re-sit in the seats the correct direction.  Instead, they literally spun out of control like a robot with a blown directional servo-thingy.  We both marveled at how it is that there are not more deaths in the Boundary Waters.  But our day was not yet done with the portage still to cross.

We got to shore, locked up the boat and observed a HUGE pile of camping paraphernalia next to the water sitting on the ground.   It was the multicolored extravaganza of  city folk going on a camping trip.  There were big folding chairs with cupholders, a screen tent, overstuffed packs, fishing equipment, a big propane camp stove, and assorted other heavy gear that some enthusiast carried for 210 rods (a rod is 16.5 feet in length) over rocks, and mud, and through swarms of mosquitos. 

I get Delilah into the pack and this time Dad is going to carry her because I have the fish in my pack.  As he takes off with the dog, he runs into two women who are dressed from head to toe in screened bug suits. They looked like space aliens.  One lady had stuffed into her wearable screen tent, a bright yellow and white neck cushion - the kind you see people using on an airliner to sleep - a can of bug dope, a fanny pack and a bunch of  other stuff that made her suit billow out like she had a few extra pounds on her.  The other woman was stuffed similarly.  When both saw Delilah with her cute little head sticking out of the pack, the woods came alive with adorable-ness and female words of admiration.  If we weren't both happily married for many years, that dog in a packsack could have been the perfect "chick magnet". 

Continuing on up the portage,  I pull ahead of my dad to get to the truck to unload so I can double back and grab his pack.   Once I unload my oars and pack, back down the portage I go to grab the pack with the dog in it.  Then I head back to the truck and wait for Dad who's taking a slower pace.

At the truck, I unpack Delilah and put her on a leash.  Another truck pulls up with a stubby little tandem canoe and two guys hop out.  One wants to know if it's busy on Wood lake.  I say "yeah" because I just passed the screened-in women with their boxcar load of gear, the guy from their group who was hauling in the canoe, the two guys paddling their canoe backwards on the water while holding their paddles backwards, the four guys we saw on the point where we caught the perch, the canoes in the distance,  and the camp with someone making sun tea on the northern site.  So, yeah - it was busy.

The shorter guy groaned at the prospect of others being on the lake.  I noticed he was dressed "Disneyland Style" for going into the bug-laden woods and I commented that he appeared "ready-to-go" with his bug-screen pantaloons on over his short pants.  He hesitantly replied that he'd "heard that it was buggy on the trail".  I said , "Oh", thinking to myself that if one would only wear regular long pants instead of shorts, none of this "wearing bug-screen-harem-pants like MC Hammer" would be necessary.  I mentioned that the two women on the portage were all dressed up just like that as well.   As, I said that, the mosquitos were swarming in the grass in which we stood, but upon hearing that he was dressed "like the women ahead of him", he quickly removed his screened-in pants, wadded them up and stuffed them somewhere.  At that point, no less than 5,000 mosquitoes charged up those Disneyland shorts and made him twitch a little - well, maybe a lot.  He sure as heck wasn't going to show it however.  "Real men don't wear bug screen pants"  was the message I got out of this.  The laughter inside me wanted to come out SO badly, but I repressed it gallantly.  I think I may have pulled something.

OK, YES - I was messing with him.  And it worked really well - for me.  Anyway, my dad arrived, we said goodbye and good luck to the two new guys and back to Northwind Lodge we went.  Delilah, as per her usual self, enjoyed the ride all day long.  Another day on Wood Lake has passed.

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