Sunset Bay Resort 2019 Newsletter
Our 20th year on Baby Lake!
We hope you had a blessed holiday with friends and family. With the 18 inches of snow and the sound of snowmobiles outside we finally feel like it is winter. It has been pretty mild so far in 2019. No real amount of snow until a storm a few weeks ago dumped 18 inches on us. Love to see the snow but 18 inches that fast had us up on the roof cleaning it off because of the weight of the snow. That much snow at once shuts the ice fishing down for a while as well. Can't get around out on the lake because of the snow depth and slush under the snow. Before the storm, ice fishing was good and Arne and the boys were picking up walleye, crappie and bass on Baby Lake as well as other lakes in the area.
Hunters were happy this year. Grouse number were said to be down. We were able to host some hunters this year and our dogs stayed healthy so we had a pretty good season. Deer hunting was also very good this year. Overall the hunters in the area all had pretty good luck. Aaron had a hair raising experience this year while hunting, he encountered a deer buried under some leaves. Recognizing it was a fresh kill it didn't take him long to put the pieces together that is was a fresh cougar kill. Aaron decided to move out of that area pretty quickly with a few glances over his shoulder while walking out.
Fishing was great this past year!! Our Catch and Release Brag Board Filled!! Good numbers of all the different species of fish were seen. Crappie are crawling back in numbers as well and gave fishermen some fun times on the lake trying to find them. We encourage everyone to continue to put the larger fish back so the population will continue to grow and thrive. Baby Lake is the last lake in Minnesota to ban spearing of Northern Pike. The proposed legislation by the state to open Baby Lake to spearing has been tabled. Baby Lake retains its ban on spearing. Generally the DNR is not seeing good compliance with slot limit 22-26 inches on Northern and will seek to help educate fishermen better. The Rock Weir Dam on McKeown Lake was worked on this year by the DNR to help with the elevated water levels. A large beaver dam was removed between McKeowen and Kid Lake, and after the work was done fish were seen moving between lakes.
Catch and Release Winners for 2018:
Each Wins $50 off their next stay or Cash
Kale Mobley - 16 inch Smallmouth
Heidi Erickson - 38 inch Muskie
Travis Holtz - 39 inch Muskie
Baby Lake has a public access so the DNR is the only one that can study and stock walleye. Natural production of walleye is low. Stocking every other year of approximately 1-lb of walleye fingerlings per acre is effective, but the growth rate is linked to the forage base (food available). Stocking every other year helps minimize the overload on the forage base. Stocking with too many fish has shown that it is taking an extra year for the fish to reach harvestable size. The chart below show the stocking numbers within the past 10 years. 2018 numbers were not available.
We LOVE our loons - a signal of how healthy a lake is. Our pair raised 1 chick this past summer. Mama could be found all summer in our bay with her chick. She left in early October, and by early November the chick was gone as well. Hope they have a restful, warm winter and return safely this spring. We always cheer when we hear that first loon fly over the lake in the spring. The chart below shows our 6 area lakes and the loon counts for the last 2 years.
Sunset Bay Rocked this past summer. Both the kids and ladies painted lots of rocks to hide and encourage others. Many communities have taken up this positive and uplifting project. Rocks are painted with fun pictures and positive quotes on them. The rocks are then hidden through the resort or community to encourage the finder. With the added bonus of a prize if the most rocks were found on the resort for that week. By the end of the summer 70+ rocks were being found. This summer we will be painting and stenciling fun signs to take home with us to remind us of the summer. Kids we have added an air hockey table to the game room! Next summer is coming fast and we are already busy working on things to make a stay at Sunset Bay even more memorable and fun. If you don't have your reservations yet check our availability online and give us a call or email so we can get you set up for a wonderful vacation here at Sunset Bay Resort.