September Report, 2024

End of Season

Well, that’s it folks. September has flown by and the season at VBL is over for another year. 32 years and counting!

Speaking of fish experts the VBL “Perch Rodeo” for 2024 was a tangled web of intrigue, controversy and tension. A nail biting race to the finish……

Things started to ferment, with a cheesy smell, when multi year winner Andy Lewis (11 3/4″) was outdone by Eagle Lake guide Greg Breutch (12 1/4″) in the final weeks of the competition. Crying fowl but still undaunted Andy used his final week in September, albeit “Musky Madness Week”, to seek out bigger perch….to boldly go where no perch have been caught before.

Andy (on the left) appears to have put his bitterness aside for his fishing partner Kevin Mahaney, here taking home the Perch Rodeo trophy for his last minute entry……12 1/2 inches of fury! Congratulations Kevin….live long and prosper! The title of “Perch Master” is yours to covet for the next 12 months.

Will Kevin be able to defend his title? Will Andy stab him in the back to stay on top? Will Kurt, the original Perch Master come out of retirement? What about the new young gun Noelle Swanson? Will Live-Scope be banned in perch competitions? Who’s the father of the baby? So many mysterious roads to victory, or defeat, as we all look towards 2025…….

Own a lodge and you will fish all day…..they said. While this note was not what I wanted to see first thing in the morning while pouring a cup of coffee, the accompanying $20 bill was a nice touch….Thanks Scott! Pro tip: use a courtesy flush half way next time.

Speaking of “live logs”, the end of the season means Musky Madness Week. Here’s a nice release photo of a 48 incher by John Ponash, which was ultimately the winner.

John with his winning musky. John also won first place in the biggest “other species” with a 38 inch pike.

We also had a category for best photo of the week……here’s Blake Mauer’s winning entry. Good one!

On the last night of the competition awards are presented, drinks are poured and a steak dinner is served. Here Mike and Bob have taken over the role of BBQ Masters…..

Not all fish are big…

Meanwhile…

Some happy anglers….

Look at the girth on that one…….

So a constant issue that seems to always need improvement is the state of the portage lake boats / ramps…….more specifically Clearwater Lake. With new four stroke engines this season this has improved performance (with a few minor issues that have been resolved). On the other hand as we all age gracefully, the act of pulling a boat onto and off of the ramp seems more onerous than ever….

Adding some length to the ramp seemed to be a good idea for lower water years, but still issues were raised.

The center keel of the boats is ripping off the “slidy bits” and generally making it a pain in the ass. Combined with the G. D. winch that has finally died (thankfully), we need a solution. Here’s my plan: Two 2 x 4’s extending out into the water further, on either side of the center keel, and covered in the new “slidy bits”. This way the smooth hull will rest on the slides without the ragged keel being able to grab onto the wood…….seems to make sense. Will it work? Stay tuned for next year when we review the situation. While we are at it let’s add a new, fully functional boat winch.

The end of the season…

What better way to kick off the “off season” than some bubby on the point. Susanne even went swimming….not bad for the end of September.

The sunrises are getting later..

More fall-like weather with the pot-o-gold across the lake…

The morning sun seems different in the fall……

Leaves are changing……here on the portage trail to McGregor Lake…

…and the trail to Clearwater. Note the exuberance one exhibits at the start of the “death march”.

Dress appropriately for the end of the season….

Every year it is said that the boat paddles gather at “Assholes Garage” where they cuss and talk loudly about their exploits from the past season…… Seen here are some of the more rugged ones hankering for whisky and women…….or perhaps a coat of varnish. Coming soon: “Tales from Assholes Garage”

Some of the fall colors are at their peak right now….

In Conclusion…

The season is a wrap and while the fishing overall was good it was an odd year in many respects. That being said a perusal of the fish house chalk boards shows that big fish have been cooperative this year.

A big thank you to all the guests we had this season! In reality most of you have been coming for several years, if not several decades. It’s pretty awesome to have that kind of a customer relationship / friendship over all these years. I know some of the new guests we had this year will also join us again either in 2025 or the near future. There will be a few more blog posts over the winter and of course the newsletter at the end of the year (The Beaver……..if you think I don’t have your address and you want to be mailed a copy be sure and email me with your mailing address. I’m terrible about collecting this kind of information….sorry!).