Aug 43 min read

Sweet Summertime

Here we are in August now and summer is moving at a fast speed. Tall Pines may be a fishing camp, but so many other things were happening these last weeks that fishing sometimes took a back seat. With warmer air and water temps, recent guests have spent more time outside compared to guests of prior weeks. In the evening, lounging on the decks, porches, catching sunsets on the docks, and fishing til dusk was common. And during the day, lots of kids- and adults- took advantage of paddleboarding and kayaking while one family even took to wakeboarding.

We had some 85 degree days last week that sure made jumping in the lake enticing. And water temps are in mid to upper 70s now. Mud lake even saw surface temps of 83 degress according to a guest from Green Bay. (But, I don't know if I'd trust his info, as he's a Packers fan and likes to mess with us for being Bears fans.) Fishing- or as one guest put it, catching- has still been scattered and sometimes unpredictable. Lots of mid-size fish caught, and lots of good stories including faulty equipment, ineffective net jobs, no camera on boat, go pro battery so no proof, etc. prevented a few fish from being featured in this blog.

John and Deb enjoyed Tall Pines last year and orchestrated bringing their daughter Kim and her sweet family. They enjoyed their first trip to Canada and Kim caught and released this nice pike:

Caleb really got into some nice smallies while Kael, Raelin, and Neyeli caught some nice keeper pike:

Kalib (former owner Donna Clagett's nephew) has so many fond memories as a kid at Tall Pines with Aunt Donna Lou. One time he said he rode his bike all the way from the showerhouse down the hill right into the water! It was great to reminisce with him on old memories and also see him create some new ones- here he landed this beauiful golden walleye:

On the left is Donna's brother, Dave Seeley. He also told some great stories about the Pete and Donna days at Tall Pines. Dave and Kalib's crew also included Brett, Uncle Joh, Logan and Chandler and they got into some of the bigger walleyes of the week:

Haan time- a dozen of them came this year for their kind of family reunion, as they are spread across three states. These guys have their traditions here at Tall Pines. They eat together, fish together, and watch the sunsets together. Some might throw in playing catch, paddling, or napping more than others in their group, but they sure are a fun family. Bruce sent in some fish (and in Diane's case- log) pics from his boat, though I'm sure all his siblings also managed to catch some too :)

Brennan really shot up since he was here 2 years ago, and landed some dandy walleye:

And Addison was just a girl when we met her back in '19 (pictured left) and has blossomed into an all around athlete who topped the leaderboard for the week with her 23" walleye (pictured right)

July was family time, and Dad Craig did an amazing jog of navigating the boat while also helping his adorable girls catch fish. And Mom Molly planned all the little details so no one ran out of snacks or things to do. Hadley caught some pike and perch:

and Della smiled and narrated the whole time:

Love this evening fishing off the dock pic- reminded me of the Trace Akins lyrics "She thinks we're just fishing"...ballet shoes and all.

And speaking of evening fishing, Ryan snuck out one night recently with some buddies and released this dandy walleye:

Random camp photos came in including a moose spotting across the bay, some creative inuksuk formations, and water toys getting used:

And in this rare hot week, some of our veterans decided to take a "leisurely dip" to cool off:

With such comfortable evening temps, many of our fishermen lingered outside for some incredible sunsets:

including Ryan and me:

We've lucked out with some great weather for potluck these last two weeks. So much food!

Blueberries are in, and they're oh so sweet- it's a great year for blueberries with all the rain we've had. Cabin 5 made some yummy blueberry pancakes with them, and I made a blueberry crumble dessert for the potlucks where guests were scraping the dish to get the last bit.