2011 Fishing Opener

Well, we're off to a great start of the season! Cameron caught a 10 pound northern off the dock today! :) He was VERY excited!
And, we've got a "new" dock boy- Nathan!! He's been a big help on the dock- helping boats come in, getting minnows for guests, etc. We're excited that our boys are old enough to start helping out! hehe
Dave has been very busy working on the docks. He's made some sturdy supports for the walkway, so it feels a lot better walking across it now. What a nice improvement!
Larry has been busy building a couple of new decks for cabins- they look great!
Sally and Betsey have been busy opening cabins up for the season and getting the lodge ready.
We're so happy to see guests arriving for the Opener- it's great to see familiar faces and meet new people.
Here's to a great season!!

Hope you all had a great holiday season! We've had about 75" of snow so far this year. We live in a winter wonderland!

The snowmobile, cross country ski and snowshoe trails are in great shape. There is still some slush on the lake, but if you stay on the marked trails, there's no problems at all. The land trails are beautiful. The snow is clinging to the branches making the scenery like something on a postcard.

Larry & Betsey will be coming to Rosemont, Illinois for the America's Outdoors Show Jan. 26 through the 30th. They'll be in Booth #520, so if you're in the area, we hope you'll stop by. We're excited about the show and the improvements that have been made. We'll be offering some Sports Show Specials at this show as well as the Northwest Sports Show in Minneapolis March 30 through April 3. Dave and Sally will be attending that one in Booth #909. We hope you'll drop by and say hi.

Fall Already

I wish fall would last longer. I love fall! The leaves are gorgeous, the weather is (usually) gorgeous, there are (usually) no bugs, the frost doesn't (usually) hit us since we're on the lake, and we get to see guests who come every fall to stay with us! :)
This year, the leaves seem to be particularly brilliant. It's gorgeous here!

We had a great group come and stay with us for a few days- 50 guys from Appleton Wisconsin. They stayed in all of our cabins and lodge rooms, took guides out for the day, and caught a lot of fish! Dave cleaned over 300 fish in 2 days. He's still in therapy...... hehe
If you're thinking about doing a corporate retreat- Arrowhead Lodge is the place to visit! Even if you're not thinking about doing a corporate retreat- Arrowhead Lodge is the place to visit! :) We're offering a 20% fall discount on a full week's stay, and a 10% discount on a nightly rate.
Pretty soon, we'll be getting ready to close the cabins down for the winter, but we still have a couple of weeks of good weather left!

Summer Time

It's been a hot couple of days here on Kabetogama. Summer is here! The lake is warm (warmish), the waterskiiers are out, and the fish are biting. Come and join in on the fun! :)
We had some guests limit out on walleye this week- almost unheard of in July! They caught some nice smallmouth bass, too.
Dave and the boys went fishing last night (I was along for the boat ride) and caught some northerns and a couple of bass in Gold Portage. The rapids are really big right now from all of the spring rain. It was a gorgeous night!
We just had some guests here celebrating their 30th year at Arrowhead! (Hi Petrick's and Possin's!!) They found some amazing patches of blueberries this year- it's a bumper crop!
The blueberries like a lot of rain and a lot of heat, and that's what we've had (rain in June and heat in July). Come on up and pick some berries!
The Bannister's from St Louis are here this week- they've been coming for many years, too, and we so enjoy having their family here.
It's been a great summer- lots of repeat guests who we love to see every year, and a lot of new faces, too. (which we love just as much!)
We have a family here this week who flew to Minneapolis from California, and are following the Laura Ingalls Wilder trail. What a fun trip! Their girls, Stephanie and Julia, are so sweet.
I've been busy taking outdoor portraits- senior portraits, family portraits, children's portraits- you name it. If you'd like your family portraits taken while on vacation in the beautiful northwoods, just give me a call! These make great Christmas card pictures! :)
Hope everyone is having a great summer.
-Sally

Governor's Opener was a success!

The Opener came and went so fast, it's hard to believe it happened! :)
Friday night started out the Opener with the Community Picnic at the Visitor Center. A huge tent was put up to seat everyone- there were approx. 950 people at the dinner! The Governor and his wife were both there, along with the Lieutenant Governor. Nathan's class had a field trip to the Visitor Center earlier in the day, and they all got to meet the Governor and take a picture with him. He was really good with the kids, patiently answering all of their questions ("Have you ever been to the White House?" "Did you sleep there?" "Did you get to jump on the beds?" "Did you meet their dog?" "How old are you?"). The Governor's wife was at the Littlefork school that day reading to the kids. Cameron thought that was pretty cool.
Saturday morning, dad got to sing the National Anthem at the send off! He was pretty nervous, but after all of his practicing while mowing the lawn, he did very well!
We had our family (my grandpa, aunt, uncle and cousin) here from IL to help out while we were working at the Opener- we couldn't have done it without their help! They helped tend bar, cook and serve meals to our guests, and answer the phone, among many other duties.
It was a fun weekend- and people caught fish!! :)

Spring is Here!

The ice went off the lake early this year! A month early, to be exact. Usually May 1 is the expected ice-out, but this year it was April 3!! Woo Hoo!! It's SO nice to see the water again. The lake level is coming up a bit every day. It's nice to have this extra time for the water to come up so we can float some boats at our docks at Opener!
Speaking of Opener.... The Governor's Fishing Opener is on Kabetogama this year. We've all (the entire community) been working hard trying to get everything ready for it. It's a very big event, and we're excited to see how it all works out.
The new dock is almost done! Just a few more boards on the decking and it'll be good to go. It looks great! (pictures to come when it's all done).
The guys put a new deck on our duplex cabin. Some friends from the cities came for the weekend to help us out, which is SO appreciated!!! It looks great!
Nathan and Cameron come home from school every day and go directly to the kayaks. They are very excited to see the water again, too! They're itching to swim, but it's still a little too chilly- even for them! :)

Nothwest Sports Show

Hi Everyone- Just wanted to let you know that we'll have a booth at the Northwest Sports Show at the Convention Center in Minneapolis next week. We'd love to have you come by and say hi! The dates for the show are March 24-28. Hope to see you there! :) (see how much fun we have there?)