October News from White Iron Beach
This past month has just flown by. September and early October has always been my favorite time of year, even when we were back in Illinois. Cooler temps, no bugs and the most beautiful change between seasons. A great time to relax and reflect. Speaking of reflecting, we want to thank everyone that visited WIBR this past season. It was a great recovery year after a not so great 2013. The weather was not the best on record but a massive improvement over last Summer. The season is not over as we have been blessed with awesome Fall weather (some better than this past Summer), great colors and a nice number of guests coming up to enjoys it all.
We were able to start our new storage/garage building. Actually it is under roof and almost fully closed in. Maybe even finished by the end of the week. We have had some great help with the project. Most of the guys that I go with on our Fall fishing trip pitched in for a few days to get us jump started on the project. Mickey and Rick stayed several days extra to keep it moving along. Thanks guys.
September also saw Sandy in the hospital with gall bladder surgery on the 15th. It all went very well and she is almost fully recovered. She is very relieved to know that the severe and unexpected attacks are gone forever. It is tough to see her not feeling well as she is almost never sick and does not complain, I do enough of that for both of us.
We are officially empty nesters as of last Sunday. Taylor is taking a year off school and has moved to Colorado. He and his cousin have an apartment rented and are going to experience living on their own. Taylor has really missed out on time by himself as he lived at home while getting his associates degree here in Ely at Vermillion CC. It is hard to believe our baby is 21 and moved out of state. We will of course personally miss him but I also loose my best worker ever and will probably need to hire two kids to replace him. Good luck Tay. We love you.
We do have cabins open through the 20th of October depending on the weather. Also have two cabins open for periodic Winter business. So if snowmobiling, cross country skiing or ice fishing are your thing we can help you out.
We are now taking reservations for the 2015 season. Make sure to call soon to guarantee the cabin and week/weeks or days you prefer. Please check the web site www.whiteironbeach.com for all the current up to date info and specials.
Take care.
Kerry and Sandy
218-365-4885
info@wp.wafisherinteractive.com
Fishing Reports
We had pretty much “normal” Fall fishing this past month. Decent activity with mostly smaller walleye and slot ones between 17 and 26 inches. The Northern have not really turned on yet but the water temp are still hanging in at just below 60 degrees. The last couple days of September were cooler so that should drop the water temps quickly. We have also had a bit of rain which is always good for increased water flow at the river mouth. That water flow and the lower water temps around 52 degrees help draw the walleyes in to the spawn areas. Silver Rapids also tends to draw in big Northerns this time of year.
We went on our annual Fall fishing trip starting the 23rd and coming back in on the 27th. This was our 13th year doing an overnight camp trip up to Basswood Lake. It was an awesome trip. We had unbelievable weather, better than the best Summer week this past year. Warm, no rain, only light winds and no bugs to speak of. The fishing was good even though we had several lulls in the action. One of the highlights was a 28 inch walleye caught by my buddy Mickey G from Illinois. It was his biggest walleye ever and actually he caught more walleyes than on any other trip we have done. Taylor also caught his biggest fish ever, a 34 inch Northern. Super trip with a bunch of super guys.
The Forest service should be announcing the dates for the permit lottery soon. I will post the dates next month and possibly on the resort web site. It will probably start around December 1st and run through January 15th. The lottery will only be for day use and overnight motor permits. Canoe permits will be sold on a first come first served basis starting sometime after January 15th.
If you have questions or need help in submitting a permit request please give me a call. If you want to pick up your permit at WIBR just choose us as your option as permit cooperator/issuing station. Remember, it is always better to reserve a permit if you think you want to go on a motorized BWCAW trip. If you change your mind it only costs you $6.00. But also remember to be courteous to others who may want to use the BWCAW and cancel unwanted permits in a timely manner so they can be reissued to another party.
Remember, we do have guides available for White Iron and trips to other lakes. I have been posting pictures in the fishing report on the web site www.whiteironbeach.com , so check it often.
Area Events
Click here for the Ely Chamber events calendar. http://www.ely.org/events/calendar and http://www.ely.org/events/featured-events/