Anchor Inn Resort Blog - Home

Rex C. – Lafayette, IN   27.5 inch Northern Pike

Philip C. – Minot, ND  Crappie  1 Pound

Ron Z.  – Morrison, IL  Bluegill        1 Pound 4 oz

Nate B.  -  Omaha, NE   Large Mouth Bass  6 Pound

James A.     -  Marshalltown, IA  Walleye  6 Pounds

The opener was great weather for the Northwoods.  The water levels have risen about 10 inches since opening.    The unusual warm spring had the bite well advanced in most species.   The air temperatures have been in the mid 70’s this past week.  Scattered showers and fronts moving through have scattered the fish.   During the opening weeks many walleye were harvested from smaller eating size up to a four pounder.  After a May Fly hatch in early June the walleye bite slowed, but they are now being caught again.  Crappie and pan fish have been caught in water depths of 4 to 10 feet.  Both are being caught off the Anchor Inn Bridge.  Most on jigs with live bait.   Large jumbo perch and northern continue to be caught.  The water temperature has been recorded at mid 70’s.

A nice start for the bass season!!  The vegetation has completely covered Rice Lake leaving no place to navigate into this natural fish hatchery until Fall.

Small and large mouth bass are being harvested in good numbers.  Good eating size of 2.5 to 3 pound range.    Weather fronts continue to move in.   Bring your rain gear, just in case, and enjoy the fishing, moderate temperatures, and cool evenings.

Keep an eye on the pictures in the 2010 Guest photo album and updates on the fishing reports.

The Anchor Inn boat launch continues to be very busy due to low water levels and poor access at the public landings.

If you have not tried fishing in the Sand Lake chain you need to come try it out.  We believe you will find the accommodations at Anchor Inn relaxing, clean and reasonable.

The biggest catch of the week!!

Over 40 pounds

Ready for guests!!

We received notification from the Department of Natural Resources that we have now been approved as agents for the new touch screen electronic license system.

We are now online with the new electronic license system.  Buy your license at Anchor Inn Resort.

We have an early spring with ice going out two weeks earlier than normal which is four weeks out before 2009.  Are you ready to go fishin’?

Wolf at Pete's dock

We had some quests on the river over the weekend.  Click on the images to see enlarged.  Thank you to Don and Martie Wilson, our neighbors, for the photos.

Wolf at first bend in river north of lodge

This year, 2009,  produced good fishing at Anchor Inn Resort .  The following are the winners of the fishing contest:

 No one entered their walleye in the contest, but there were a lot of nice walleye.   There was an abundance of small walleye which indicates there is a strong class of fish coming up.   The stocking of Sand  and Little Sand Lakes continue through the combined efforts of the Sand Lake Property Owners Association and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.  This Fall a total of 1,897 pounds of fingerings were stocked.  The cool summer and abnormally warm September did impact some of the usual patterns of fishing and hunting.

Fishing Opener for 2010 is Saturday, May 15.  Make your reservations now for the opener!!

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is considering implementing new limits of only five each on Sunfish, Perch and Crappie on the Sand Lake Chain.  You will have an opportunity to voice your opinion on their website www.dnr.state.mn.us during a public comment period next spring, summer and fall.  If this were enacted into the regulations it would take place in 2011.   Your opinions and comments make a great deal of difference.

 The best hunting this year was the grouse.  Field and Stream has ranked the Chippewa National Forest as the Number 1 grouse hunting location in the United States.  We had several parties who were flushing better than 20 birds a day.   The Whitetail deer herd is down.  The DNR just reported that the  statewide harvest is down 19% from last year and the Grand Rapids area is down 26%.

We pride ourselves on meeting the needs of our guests.  Improvements in our facilities are ongoing to make your stay with us comfortable.

In 2008 we opened our new cabin 7 which provides four bedrooms and two bathes for large groups or small groups who wish to have ample room and modern facilities.  This unit has a large living room with a 37 inch flat screen television hooked to cable.  You also will enjoy wireless internet access.  The living room adjoins the dining and kitchen so that you can enjoy the company of your party while relaxing, eating, and cooking.  All of these areas open to a deck and view of Little Sand Lake.  Call for details or special pricing depending on availability.

We continue improvements on resort property. The big project for 2009 was installing insulation and pine ceiling on Cabin #1, the A-Frame.  Prior to opening in 2010, we remodeled; installing new carpeting, rebuilt the lakefront wall with new windows, and created a second bedroom from the large living room.

New Pine Ceiling, Fans & Lights

The new fish cleaning house is nearly complete.   You really need to plan a fishing trip to clean your catch in our deluxe facility.

Five cleaning stations is our new fish cleaning house

We hope to make improvements on the bait house and shower house in the coming year.

The bridge replacement project scheduled for  August 2010, has now been rescheduled for post Labor Day 2011 to allow time for tribal cultural considerations. There will core digs in the area effected by the construction to ensure there are no Native American remains.  The wooden bridge has been a memorable location to many generations of anglers.  The new plans include a fishing platform on the north side of a concrete bridge as well as wider road  and shoulders.  This will provide a safer location for vehicles and pedestrians.   There are also plans to include curbs and a sidewalk back to the Anchor Inn drive entrance.  We are working on plans to restore the shoreline of  river to native vegetation which will be disturbed during construction.  Although road traffic will only be open from the west, the river will remain open for boaters and anglers.  If you need directions when traveling to Anchor Inn Resort or to area attractions during construction we will be glad to assist you.

Thank you to all our customers who stopped by to see us at the sport shows this year.  We enjoyed talking with customers and  all of the potential customers and hope that you had an enjoyable winter.   Please keep Anchor Inn Resort in your vacation plans and contact us if you have further questions.  We will see you this summer at Anchor Inn.  Come and enjoy our Legendary Hoosier Hospitality.