| May_Day |
For only the second time since I've been here (17 Springs) there is ice on
the lake in May. The other time was in 1996. With the little rain and warm temps last night (it stayed around 40), it appears that the ice has loosened up a fair amount. I think most (but not all) of it will be gone by Saturday morning when we plan to put the pontoons in the water. But the problem is this: Now through Friday the wind will be from the East or Northeast at 15 to 20 mph, so assuming that the ice sheet starts moving today, it'll hit my shoreline and pull out my dock posts. [Darn!] Then on Friday night the wind is supposed shift to the North. If there's a lot of ice up against my shore when it shifts, a North wind will not move it out. If that's the case it'll be tough getting my pontoons in the water because a lot of the ice that is left will be up against my shore. [Darn(!) again.] We still have 48 hours for the ice to melt or for the wind predictions to change.........but neither one is very likely to happen. A few hours later........ Geez, that didn't take long. The ice sheet started moving and here it comes. Click HERE. |
| May 2nd | It's 38 degrees with a heavy cloud cover, a strong wind, and rain. That's typical fishing opener weather........ but that's not till next weekend. |
| May 3rd |
The ice is finally gone. Click HERE, and
HERE. There were 15 White-throated Sparrows under the bird feeder at the same this afternoon. Today was windy and cold, but we got a lot of work done. We put four pontoons in the lake as well as Brian's boat and 8 of my 12 dock sections. This is far from the earliest this work has been done, but it is the soonest after ice-out that it has been done, on the same day no less. Hey Brian, Ann, Larry, and Dennis.........thanks for the help. |
| May 4th |
Well we're in first place for about 2 days Once every 3 or 4 years. And then we go back with the rest of the pack Where we really belong it appears. Those words were written by Garrison Keiller about the Minnesota Twins, several years ago. I believe that it applies to the situation of today. |
| Cinco de Mayo |
LBL bird number 82: Ruby-crowned Kinglet. (Different lists have different
rules.) Click HERE. There were tons and tons of Tree Swallows flying over the lake yesterday. Last year they showed up on the same day that the ice went out, but I didn't notice any on ice-out day this year. Maybe I missed them or maybe the wind kept them away. |
| May 6th |
There sure are a lot of Warblers going through here now. They're all over
the place........mostly Butter-butts (Yellow-rumped Warblers). It looks like there may be ice on Lake Winnibigoshish for the opener this year. If so, that'll put a crimp in the plans of a lot of hardcore fisherpersons. |
| May 7th | This happened 63 years ago today. Click HERE. |
| May 8th | Is this a beautiful Spring morning, or what? Click HERE. |
| May 9th | It's 10:45 PM. At the moment the temperature is 45 degrees, the sky is clear, and there is no wind. It's beautiful. Tomorrow morning is the fishing opener. The weather prediction is: low temp tonight of 30 degrees. The chance of rain tomorrow is 70%, with a high temperature in the high 40s, and Northeast winds at 15 mph. And an inch of snow is predicted for tomorrow night. Such is the fishing opener........every year!!!!! |
| May 10th | The opener was typical. Temps in the Low to mid 40s and rain, although the morning was fairly dry. We did okay. We caught a 9 pound Northern and a 5 pound Bass (both of which went back into the water), and a few smaller ones. |
| May 11th | The fishing opener was yesterday: Click HERE. |
| May 12th | Welcome back Jeff and Jordon.........the first customers of the season! |
| May 13th | LBLR Bird number 83: American Redstart. Click HERE. |
| May 14th | There were 23 Chipping Sparrows under the feeder at the same time this morning. There also was a pair of Hooded Mergansers on the lake this morning, which is not all that unusual but we don't see them every year. |
| May 15th |
Here are some preliminary water level numbers for this year. They're
preliminary because the yearly "surveying" work was done by Mary B
and Jane H from the Extension Service (University of Minnesota and Michigan
State University respectively), and they wont be official until the
DNR does it later this month.
The water level went up 4 3/4 inches between the freeze date last Fall and
the thaw date this Spring. At the moment the water level is nearly 7 1/2
inches higher than it was at this time last year. The water temperature is colder than it was last year. It has been 11 days since the ice went out and the surface is almost 48 degrees. Last year 11 days after ice-out it was 10 degrees warmer than this. On this date last year it was about 60 degrees. The Water Clarity is 7.5 feet which is about 2 feet less than last year at this time. The lake data for Water Level (HERE) and Clarity (HERE) have been updated. Click HERE to see last year's temperature graph, and HERE to see this year's temperature graph (which doesn't contain much data yet). You can also get to those graphs (and a lot more) by clicking on the "Information about the Lake" link on the main LBLR page. |
| May 16th | In spite of the weather, Jeff K is doing pretty good at catching Crappies. Click HERE. Those will make a great supper, wont they? |
| May 17th | The word for the day.........nay, the word for the year, is: Contentment. Con - tent - ment! |
| May 18th | Here's my buddy from across the lake. Click HERE. |
| May 19th | Darn wind! Click HERE. It looks like that was a very healthy tree, doesn't it? But here's what happened to it in one day when it was attacked by a Pileated Woodpecker in April, 2005. Click HERE. |
| May 20th | Summer begins only one month from today. Amazing!!! |
| May 21st |
To all LBLR customers....... Here are a few things that have changed since you were here last year: * A GREAT new diner named Florio's Grill and Bar has opened in Cohasset. It's right next to the Post Office. * A new bar has opened at LMNO-Pizza (just East of here on HWY 2). * The old Wal-Mart has closed and a new Super Wal-Mart has opened further South on 169. * L&M Fleet Supply will eventually move into the old Wal-Mart building. * The Target store has expanded and became a Super-Target Store. * Both grocery stores (Cub & Ogle's) have modernized and re-arranged everything (sigh). * A new "fine dining" place will open shortly just off HWY 169 South. There will be more about this after I try it. * A few blocks of dowtown Grand Rapids are torn up and will remain so for most of the summer, but the detour isn't all that bad. |
| May 22nd |
Sleep in a cabin, get up at dawn.........fresh air,
tranquility, no demands, no phone, no pressure.
-- That's LBLR (except maybe for the "up at dawn" part.) |
| May 23rd | Ya know, sometimes a person should just look at things and think about things, without actually doing things...........LBLR could be a good place for that. |
| May 24th | According to Sparky Anderson (past Tiger manager) a ball team must play 40 games before it can be truly judged. My Tigers have now played almost 50 games and they continue to sink deeper and deeper into the cellar where, I believe, they are destined to remain. Sigh! |
| May 25th |
My Granddaughter Molly just lost a tooth. To see where her tooth
used to be click HERE. Methinks Kaylee needs a new fishin' pole. Click HERE. |
| Memorial Day |
It's Memorial Day; Click
HERE. LBL Bird number 84: Gray-cheeked Thrush. (Thanks to Jerry B for the indentification.) Click HERE. |
| May 27th | Last night's frost occurred nearly two weeks later than the normal "last frost" for this neck of the woods, and another one is predicted for tonight. |
| May 28th | The lake level has dropped over 3 inches in the last 8 days. That's quite a drop! Lucas told me that someone cleared a bunch of debris from the stream running over to Bass Lake a short time ago. I wonder if that might have something to do with the sudden drop. Click HERE. |
| May 29th | Happy Oak Apple Day! The celebration of this day dates back to 1660 when it was inaugurated to commemorate the return of King Charles II and the end of the British Civil War. |
| May 30th | Both trees that fell in the lake (see the May 19th entry above) have been removed from the lake........finally. |
| May 31th | Nothing I see at LBLR would indicate that things are as bad as this article seems to imply. Click HERE. |
