Rockman's Report/Rocky Reef Resort

[rockman]

Well Happy New Year too you all. I sure hope that 2009 is a lot better than 2008, but I doubt it. We still have the second phase of foreclosures on the way. I wish that they would just give us all the money that they are using to bail out all of the thieves in the auto and financial institutions. Then we would have a stimulus package that will work. Please do not get me going on the rest of the problems in the world or we could be here for a long, long time. My New Years Resolution, is to be more upbeat and much more of an optimist. Right, with all of my hopes and dreams for a better life for Patty and me going right down the tubes, I do not see that happening any time soon. Other than that, life is good. We have our health and each other, and that is all that I really need.

With all of that being said, and yes I needed to say it, the ice is holding up nicely with all of the weight of the snow, although, most of the banks are finally cracking off and flooding, which is a good thing. We have a lot more snow to plow this season it looks like. These are the winter seasons that I remember from the early nineties when I needed a hundred horse tractor, with a 4 ft tall by 8 ft wide blower on the back. It was nice to have because the snow was gone for good with no heavy banks to worry about flooding and breaking off.

I could blow snow for over 150 ft and it would take me all day, but it was certainly worth the effort. I needed almost 2 ft of ice, just to handle the weight of the machine and yes it was a very erie feeling to be in it on the ice because if it breaks through it will go down immediately. There will be no time to get out of the cab when it does, but it did a great job. That was then and this is now. I will be plowing with the V plow for the rest of the season. There is just so much snow on the lake, that if you did not open your original road up to at least 100 ft, you have lost the battle with the snow already. A lot of resorts plow a wind row on both sides, which is the wrong way to plow roads on the lake, both sides will break off and flood and then you have no road at all. That is what happened to Terry at Terrys Boat Harbor, from what I have heard.

So with things being the way that they are and money being so tight for everyone, I will be offering a 25 percent discount to those of you that mention this offer to Patti or me when you call to rent an ice house. Yes, I said 25 percent off of your ice house rental, but you must mention that you read it in this report when you book your rental and bring a copy of this report with you. You can not beat this price anywhere on the lake. You will also get 1 free drink of your choice at the Bar. Now what more can you ask for? Give me a call this week to rent an ice house, as the offer will expire next week.

The fishing this past weekend was slower than the weekend before, but I think it had a lot to do with the weather patterns that were moving through the state. The fishing has been pretty good this week so far, there are a lot of smaller perch finally showing up, which is a good thing to see. When the small perch start to show up, the larger schools of bigger perch are not far behind them. So I look forward to the next couple of weeks for the perch bite to get into full swing. The walleyes that have been caught over the past 2 weeks are in the 13 to 16 inch range, which is also great to see that the 2006 year class of fish are starting to show up, finally.

It has been over 3 years since we have seen that year class of fish being caught. With all of the snow cover on the lake, the photosynthesis is going to slow down the production of oxygen in the lake, which in turn will slow down the fish and you will see more fish higher in the water column than you would normally see, looking for water that has oxygen in it. The deep water will slow down first as the oxygen levels start to drop, that is when you will start to see the fish in varying depths in the water column. It has been over 7 years since we have had this much snow cover, this early in the season. So it will be interesting to see how the bite will turn out for the rest of the season, especially when we have so much time left to get more snow cover on the lake.

That is all for now from Rock Central.

You have a great week and hopefully with the 25 percent discount on the ice house rental and a free drink of your choice within reason, lets not get to crazy on the choices, for this weekend only. Hopefully we will see more of you this weekend with rods in hand and ready to catch some fish.

We will see ya

When we see ya

The Rockman