Greetings and welcome!
Last weekend was a fun one. The weather turned out on the cool and cloudy side, and the rain didn’t amount to much, so it wasn’t bad for playing outside in April. It did get pretty windy at times for sure, but we came up a little short on some of the more extreme gust predictions.
Pretty many people went rafting, and they had a fun time. They were pretty fun afterward in the Rapids Resort too. Thanks to all that made it a great night.
The big news this week is that fishing opens Saturday. Since it is May 1st, it is also as early as it can open. Some years that would be a problem with ice still on the lakes, but thanks to El Nino, this isn’t one of them. All lakes are ice free and water temps are above normal for this time of year.
Trout fishermen have been asking about stream conditions. They are low. They are not seeing any surface water and are running strictly on the base flow of always there water from the springs that feed them. Again a warm spring season has streams ice free and the ground firm and free of frost in all but the most secluded creek bottoms.
Seepage lakes are also on the low side, some as much as a foot or two. They will also be ahead of normal for water temperature. My visit to Lake X late last week did not have the lillies coming in quite yet, but it wouldn’t be long.
Long time visitors know that I am a believer in moon phases and the solunar tables. This weekend looks pretty good in that regard. The full moon is Thursday, which should put a positive bias on fishing for the weekend. The solunar majors are fairly well timed this weekend too.
Marinette County ATV trails usually open this weekend, but opened a week early this year. There were a few 4 wheelers around up by Highway 8 Friday and Saturday, and Saturday afternoon I saw more around here.
The rain last weekend spared us and let our outdoor activities go on, but it did not help the drought. Fire danger remains very high, and depending on things like wind, temp, and humidity, we could go red flag under the right conditions. It is really really dry. Burning permits have been canceled across the board. You can still have a camp fire, but use extreme caution. In the short term it will probably get worse before it gets better. Later in the week both temps and wind are expected to pick up. From Thursday on we could see some relief as a storm comes our way with a good chance of some rain.
Over the next day or two we will have cool clear days and temps a little under 60. The clear skies will bring cold nights below freezing. About Thursday we should start seeing warm southern winds in advance of a storm system that will influence our weather into next week. Friday should bring a chance of rain and maybe a thunderstorm. There will be a hit and miss chance of rain over the weekend.
The storm system for the weekend is a fairly complex one. It is not being shown as a constant rain, but rather a line of rain here and there. I am not going to pretend to be able to pin down the timing of weekend rain on Tuesday morning, but it does not look like a washout. Check the GFS and see what I mean. Unsettled and cloudy weather usually bodes well for fishing, and with temps in the 70s expected, it could work out well. The TV guy was even talking bout 80s for Friday in Green Bay.
I mentioned that clear skies will bring temps below freezing overnight. We could see that again tomorrow night. I know that the nice weather has people wanting to garden already, but danger Will Robinson. We can expect frosty nights for a month or so yet under the right conditions.
Yesterday was a nice day and I wanted to do something outside. A little behind on my spring shape up program I decided that it would be a jumbo load of firewood. This time I kept the saw chain out of the dirt and we both pooped out about the same time.Yes I could bring two chains, but I am not in that good of shape yet. I’m working on it..
I made a nice big load of big heavy oak that had the truck grunting a little to pull. The trailer is still loaded. I came home and fell asleep in about 10 minutes. No happy hour, no dinner, just three hours dead out. I woke up feeling 90. It was a great workout, and that is just what I was after. Enough wood to heat my house for a couple of cold weeks next January was a nice fringe benefit, as was an afternoon in the woods.
On the way to my firewood spot I checked out a new place with some big dead oak. It was a real honey hole and easily accessible for the truck & trailer. It also sported a pretty sizable bear den just off to the side of the patch. I couldn’t tell from the drive by if it was active or not, but I do plan on returning to scout it a little closer. If it is abandoned, fine, if not I will leave the area alone. That might be a good job for that Carl Zeiss 60x optical zoom on the new camcorder.
Last week I picked up a little Sony camcorder to hopefully use for the rafting. It wasn’t the nice HD one that I wanted, but the economy isn’t exactly booming around here right now. It still seems pretty nice, and I made a YouTube video on Saturday of 12 Foot Falls. You can find that and a rafting video on YouTube under RiversportDigital, or click the imbedded movie in Saturday’s Report. Hopefully there will be a lot more like that coming.
That is about it for now. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
RJB
Ray we have a Kentuky derby party every year at Bear Point. The ladies dress up and wear their finest hats. We all cheer on the horses. There will be snacks ond food that people have brought. Anyone who would like to have fun is welcome. Starts saturday at 1 :00 the big race is around 5. There will be meat and seafood raffles during the day
Ray We have a Kentucky Derby party every year this time when they do the run for the roses. The ladies wear their finest classy hats. Mary my bartender can even talked into making a mint julip most years. Saturday we will have great snacks, Meat and seafood raffles. So if anyone wants to join in come to Bear Point Yacht Club hwy 180 Wausaukee for the fun Sat 1:00 . till after the races are over