Fantastic July Winds Down

What a fantastic summer this continues to be weather wise! The last few weeks have been consistently warm and sunny. We've had 80's to 90's, very low humidity, and little to no rain. The evenings cool down great for sleeping. The last few days have shown a bit of a cooling trend, with temp in the mid to high 70's, and down to 50 at night. If you want to keep up on the current weather conditions, click on the bottom link of our website for The Weather Network.

The lack of rain cause the MNR to put up a fire ban for the last couple of weeks. This was a bit disappointing for everyone coming to the fish fry (mostly for Bob the cook!), as we couldn't have the usual wood fire to cook on. We did make the best of things though, and cooked up the fish and spuds the more modern way, and everything from the meal to the great company was well worth it. The restricted fire zone was lifted on Thursday, so things are be back to normal this Tuesday. We haven't had any major rains right here, although there's been some good showers in areas around us.

The perch fishing has really been the story the last couple of weeks. There has been no problem finding good schools of them, and the size is fantastic. Some the last couple weeks up to 13". Where there's perch, there's northern, and there are still lots of good northern being caught. Sandy Meulemans had a monster get off her line Thursday, husband Bob thought it would have been 48" range. I think she was still shaking when she was telling me the story. Marty Coel caught a nice 25" Walleye, and the bass are still very active, and can been seen jumping in the water for the suface bugs. Our Web Photo Album has a good collection of pictures to share - check it out!

The families are having a ball this time of year between the fishing, the swimming, volleyball matches, and of course the evening drive to see moose on the roadside, and the bears at the dump. What's a Canada trip without that! There have been a few very tame fox hanging around the camp, and have been seen outside some cottages, posing like a house pet. Other wildlife as of late include the thieving otter that robs the minnow buckets or eats the fish off the stringers when you're not looking, the 50 or so residents mallards, the resident blue herons, the neighborhood eagles, and the rest of the usual bird and animal crew.

We all enjoyed a last minute trip here by Fred & Bettie Stiles from Des Moines, IA. Freddie and his bride have been coming up to our area since the highway was just a rough travel road, and have been coming here to stay with us each year for the past 23 years. Fred, turning 89 this year, still enjoys fishing very much, and Bettie gladly goes out with him every day for a few hours, and they always are able to bring back enough for supper. I know many of our regular guests have gotten to know this pair over the years, and enjoy their company as much as we do. There is never a lack of good fish stories to be told!

We expect to start seeing more avid muskie and northern fishermen over the next while, getting in on the late summer and fall action.

Bob has also started getting ready for the fall bear hunt which starts mid August, so we know we won't have too much of this fantastic summer weather left.

Keep cool everybody!

Mid July Stuff!!

I Know, I Know how come so long between posts!!! It is very hard to sit down and type with my two fingers every week so sometimes I have to let them rest. I also would like to put alot more into the Blog but have to be very diplomatic as I can only imagine who may be reading this, friends, neighbours,etc... Anyways since the last post we have had nothing but HOT weather and very little rain and as of yesterday the whole area is a Restricted fire zone. We had two little fires close to us yesterday and listened to the spotter planes and the waterbombers for quite a while. I finally got fishing with my youger daughter Karla two days ago at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, with no wind and 93 degrees (great walleye weather!!!) and as luck would have it within three minutes she had a 27 inch walleye. I now look like the best guide on the lake in her eyes. The picture will be on the photo's page on our web site http://www.rainbowpoint.com The walleye fishing has been in two different depths as you can catch them in 10-12 feet of water on the weed line and also on top of all the humps early and late in the day. These seem to be the eater variety in general but the consistantly larger ones seem to be in the 18-23 foot range with the fish dropping to more than 30 mid. day. The northerns are well established in all the bays and are readily being caught. Some nice catches of larger fish are being caught in the deeper cabbage and take a little more patience but it quite often pays off. The perch fishing has been nothing but fantastic and there is no real, hotspot, as they are readily available in all shallow bays of the lake. Last week we had a 13 1/2 incher caught,Nice fish!!
We are finally going to get to finsh painting the whole camp. We wanted to have it done this spring but the wet weather early made it hard to do. The smile on alot of guests faces when they check into the cabins with all the additions and interior remodeling ,that was done this spring, made the effort and expence worth while.
One last personal comment from myself, Bob, I would like to Thank all of you on behalf of the staff, and Gale and I, for the very generous tips that they recieve each week as it sure brings a smile to their faces, and it goes a long way to making the long days they put in alot more enjoyable if they know you all appreciate it.
My fingers are stating to get hot so I will sign off for now but will make every effort to keep the Blogs coming. One last thing, I am looking for your favorite brine recipie to use in my new smoker the girls got me for Fathers day. Any brine recipies that you might care to share especially if they are a little different than the norm would be appreciated. If you get a chance e-mail me at info@rainbowpoint.com.
Thanks for making our summers enjoyable!! Bob and Gale

July 1-8 Canada Day and 4th of July Week

Well the fist week of July was a real nice one weather wise with lots of sun and sunburns. The wind blew a little more this past week but it was taken in stride.

The fishing for northern and perch seemed to be the busiest with the walleyes coming a close second, smallies are still aggressive and easy to catch. Most of the walleyes seemed to be in the 16-18ft range early and late with some nice ones taken in the middle of the day in the mid 20ft. Range. Both crawlers and minnows were working and it just depends who you talked to as to what worked best.

The Baumanns, Lederers, Vandervries, and Zelinski groups all seemed to do well, they fished early sometimes leaving at 4:30 a.m. Dale Schlapper and his family caught some nice walleyes also and it was sure nice to see them back at the lodge. 11 year old Broc Borchardt caught a 24 inch walleye (see photo album) and I don’t know who was more excited he or his father. They were saying they also tore up the northern on the sand bar the same day.This upcoming week we have a full group of mostly regular guests so I hope the fishing and the weather folds out for them.

P.S. Sincere thanks to all for your friendship and support

Bob and Gale

Great Fishing Photos to Share

Hi all!

I've pretty much given up with downloading very many photos on the blog the way it's been working, but I've put a new 2006 photo album up on the website. I know so many of our guests have been anxious to see themselves up on the web, and so many of you who are just interested in what's going on are just as anxious.

Check out the new photos from the photo album link at Rainbow Point Lodge.

By the way, it's a gorgeous sunny day, about 80 degrees, and nothing but sunshine in the forecast until Saturday. Wish you were here!

Bye for now!

Bob & Gale

found a few minutes for an update!!

Well as you can imagine we are right in the middle of our busy season and the weather has been great and the fish are co-operating. Last week the big one's seemed to be the game of choice. Dick Gardebrecht and his wife Cheryl and their granddaughter Courtney caught and released 5 walleyes from 27-29 inches over the course of the week. They also caught lots of eaters and a bunch more in the low 20 inch range. Arlie Doel's group did very well fishing for walleyes also with their biggest one being 31 inches caught by Craig O'Connell. The weather was absolutely perfect all week with a big thundershower over night on Fri.

The fishing for northerns has gone a little deeper with some of the larger ones starting to suspend in 15-20 feet of water just off the weed lines. Perch are picking up with nice catches in 6 feet of water. Walleyes are being found in 16 -25 feet with nice catches on the humps early in the morning and later in the evening. The bait of choice is either minnows or crawlers. Everyone has their favorite way to fish and they are all good if your catching fish but good old SLOW backtrolling will get fish in the boat!! I forgot to mention Smallies. They are very aggressive on the humps and in 8-15 feet on the shore lines. A mixture of artificial sinking and top water baits are working well with presentation of leeches being also very productive.

We have had a little problem putting pictures on our Blog but will continue to work on it so in the meantime we are creating a 2006 photo gallery from our website.

We are sure getting a lot of great feedback and comments from our guests when they see the additions and decks we have put on many cabins this spring. We always hope that you will see and appreciate the amount of time and work we put into our Lodge on an on going basis. As our
logo says, "we always remember you have a choice" and our commitment is to have you enjoy your stay and return in the future.

Hope you are having a great summer also and if you need a get away in the next few months come on up and enjoy!!

Bob and Gale