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.

Check out the Leader Board for this years, 2010, contest leaders.

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%.

Legendary Fishing

Anglers find a sportsman’s paradise at Anchor Inn Resort.  Our unique location on the shore of the Bowstring River offers our guests lake access to Minnesota fisheries like Bowstring Lake, Big Sand Lake, Little Sand Lake and the Bowstring River.  Walleye, northern pike, crappie, sunfish, rock bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and perch all thrive in the clean and unspoiled waters of the winding Bowstring River.  Anglers come from miles around to fish from the “Anchor Inn Bridge.”  Its walkway, just a few feet from our front door, produces everything from stingers of sunfish to buckets of bullhead as well as wall-mount walleye and trophy-size northern pike.  Our guests often find a shady spot under a tree and shore fish along the resort’s mile-long river frontage.  Just downstream is Rice Lake, a spectacular fish hatchery, with 817 acres of sun-warmed shallow water nearly covered with wild rice.