Thunder Lake Lodge Blog

2012 Thunder Lake Lodge “Ice-Out Challenge”

Craig Riendeau — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:55:33 +0000

The 2nd Annual 2012 Thunder Lake Lodge “Ice-Out Challenge”© will be conducted once again this year via Facebook! We invite all to participate in this event by ‘liking’ us on our page and commenting for your best guess at when you believe ice-out will occur on Thunder Lake. Here’s how it will work:

In order to be eligible for the Ice-Out Challenge, you must ‘like’ us or be a ‘fan’ of our page located here: http://www.facebook.com/ThunderLakeLodgeMN
Entries will ONLY be taken on our Facebook page starting on March 15th at 12 pm CST. Entries in the blog comments will not count.
You get one guess and one guess only.
You cannot change your answer and your first guess will be the one that takes precedent.
The ice will be deemed “out” when we can no longer see any floating ice from shore in our bay here at TLL.
The person who guesses the correct date FIRST will receive a free Thunder Lake Lodge sweatshirt. If more than one person guesses the date correctly, the winner will be the person who guessed that date first.
The contest will begin on March 15th at 12:00 pm CST. At that time, submissions for the contest will begin to be tallied.

If you have anything that should be added or if you have any questions, just let us know in the comments on Facebook.

We hope to make this an annual tradition at TLL. We look forward to hearing everyone’s guesses on March 15th! See you on Facebook!

“See You At The Lake”

Thunder Lake Fishing Report (9-19-11)

Craig Riendeau — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:33:28 +0000

Ten days ago the surface temps had dropped to 68 degrees. Then we had the warmup last week that raised the water temps to 73 degrees. In the last 7 days with the recent cool down, the surface temps have dropped 12 degrees and as of yesterday, I had 61. Had a chance to get out in the boat to see if the walleyes are grouping up in their fall spots yet, but didn’t see a whole lot. Still need another week or two I think before the walleye bite gets going, depending on the weather obviously.

I decided to try the smallmouth bite last night right before dark with the calm water and had a blast with it. I was throwing topwater surface lures in 6-12 feet of water and the smallies were smashing it very aggresively, sometimes taking multiple swipes at it. I boated 4 fish in about 30 minutes with the biggest being the first fish of the evening, which was a 19.5″ football. I also caught a couple 17 inchers and a 15 incher. I must have missed 5-6 other fish who flat-out missed the lure. It was great action and a great reminder how fun the trophy smallie fishing can be on Thunder Lake.

Crappies have moved off their shallow holding spots and have probably moved to deeper water with the cool down. We haven’t had many people fishing for them lately, but I imagine if someone wanted to, they could have some good success with crappie minnows and slip bobber setups.

Start making your reservations to catch the good fall bite for walleyes, smallies, largemouth and crappies!

“See You At The Lake”

Kids Fishing Contest Results (9-2-11)

Craig Riendeau — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:40:45 +0000

Nine contestants rallied at the TLL docks for the September 2nd Kids Fishing Contest, which was the 11th and final contest of the 2011 summer. 89 total fish were caught on the day and the superlatives were as follows:

Cottage #10′s Andrew Marquette caught the smallest fish on the day, which was a sunfish measuring 4 1/8 inches.
The most fish of the day was 25! Lyndsey Anderson from Cottage #7 put up that great number for the day.
The biggest fish of the final Kids Fishing Contest of 2011 was caught by Riley “Boo” Diekmann in Cottage #8, who caught a monstrous 9 1/2 inch rock bass!

Congrats to all the participants!

“See You At The Lake”

Kids Fishing Contest Results (8-25-11)

Craig Riendeau — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:28:01 +0000

Nine contestants competed in the weekly Kids Fishing Contest on August 25th at TLL with a total of 68 fish being caught for the day! Here are the notables from the day:

Small fish of the day went to Paige Manguson in The McCleary Cabin, who caught a 3 3/4 inch sunfish.
Santino Diottaviano and Jerah Comer, both from Cottage #12, caught the most fish on the day, which was 12.
The big fish of the week was caught by Ashley Clements in A-Frame #2, who caught a big, beautiful bluegill that measured in at 8 3/8 inches.

Congrats to all the participants!

“See You At The Lake”

Kids Fishing Contest Results (8-18-11)

Craig Riendeau — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:29:53 +0000

On another sunny, beautiful Thursday afternoon at Thunder Lake, 10 contestants gathered on the docks on August 18th for the kids fishing contest at TLL. This crew caught a total of 75 fish between them all! Here are the superlatives for the week:

Isaac Bonick from Cottage #11 caught the smallest fish of the day, which was a 4 inch sunfish.
Cody Clements in A-Frame #2 caught the most fish of the day. He caught 13 fish.
Cottage #5‘s Claire Nilan caught the biggest fish of the day. She caught a gigantic 9 1/2 inch rock bass!

Congratulations to all of you that participated! What a great group of fishermen!

“See You At The Lake”

Kids Fishing Contest Results (8-11-11)

Craig Riendeau — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:55:29 +0000

Nine contestants battled it out on the TLL docks during the August 11th kids fishing contest. After 30 minutes of intense fishing action, here are the notables that distinguished themselves at the end:

Jillian Dunphy from Cottage #11 caught the smallest fish of the day. It was a 4 1/4 inch perch.
Cottage Deluxe’s Jordan Hellie and McCleary Cabin’s Ben Condon tied for most fish caught, which was a total of 10 fish.
Micheal Mitzuk from the McCleary Cabin caught the biggest fish of the day. It was a 7 1/2 inch rock bass.

Congrats to all the participants!

“See You At The Lake”

Thunder Lake Lodge Fishing Report (8-19-11)

Craig Riendeau — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:25:19 +0000

Fishing for the last month has been slower, especially for walleyes. Water surface temps soared to 80 degrees as of a week ago or so and that really made walleye fishing tough for our guests. As of today, the surface temps are around 73 degrees. Temps will probably gradually decline during the next month or so and that will trigger the walleyes to go into “fall feedbag” mode and we will definitely see improved fishing for them.

Crappie fishing has been pretty consistent for the last few weeks. We have had a few guests picking up fish in 8-14 feet of water using crappie minnows on bobber setups. However just a plain jig with a plastic body has probably outproduced the live bait method. Specifically within the last week and half or so, we have seen more crappies being brought in by our guests.

Bass fishing has still maintained its success rate numbers as well. Smallmouth and largemouth have been being caught in a variety of ways. Big smallies (18-19 inches) are still very common, but we haven’t seen the bigger largemouth being caught. Soft plastics and topwater plugs have been producing smallies in shallower water during the evening bite, while live bait rigs have been picking up “cruisers” in deeper depths.

This is the time of year when we start to see an upswing in the fishing for all species. The dog days are coming to an end and the fish will instinctively become more active for feeding, especially the walleyes. The fall bite is coming and you can be sure I will be out as much as I can to give everyone a report. We’ll keep you updated. Feel free to come take advantage of our cheaper fall rates for some great fishing.

“See You At The Lake”

Kids Fishing Contest Results (8-4-11)

Craig Riendeau — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:45:53 +0000

The August 4th Kids Fishing Contest had 7 participants who were looking to catch the biggest, smallest or most fish for the weekly competition. Here are the notables from the week:

Sophia Racette in Condo #6 caught the smallest fish of the day. It was a 4 1/8 inch sunfish.
Dylan Aitkin in Condo #1 caught the most fish of the day. He caught 10 total fish.
The biggest fish of the day was caught by Austin Saari, who stayed in the Cottage Deluxe. He caught an 8 inch rock bass.

Congrats to all the participants!

“See You At The Lake”

Kids Fishing Contest Results (7-28-11)

Craig Riendeau — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:40:25 +0000

70 fish were caught by 10 willing participants in last week’s kids fishing contest during some gorgeous low-80 degree weather and sunshine on the docks at TLL. Here are the notables:

Emma Schaefer from Cottage #4 caught the most fish of the day. She caught 13 total fish.
Nick Katona from Cottage #7 caught the smallest fish of the dat, which was a 4 1/4 inch sunfish.
The biggest fish of the day was caught by Evelyn Oliver from A-Frame #1. She caught a 7 3/4 inch bluegill.

Congrats to all the participants. You all did great!

“See You At The Lake”

Kids Fishing Contest Results (7-21-11)

Craig Riendeau — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:05:55 +0000

Eighteen fishing contest participants caught a total of 140 fish for the July 21st competition on the docks at TLL. Here are the notables from the day:

Riley Hansen from Condo #3 caught the smallest fish of the day, which was a 4 1/8 inch sunfish.
Mason Hoch from Cottage #8 caught the most fish. He fought with and landed 21 total fish.
Lucas Guazalli from Cottage #5 Main caught the biggest fish of the day. He caught a very nice 10 1/4 inch crappie.

Congrats to all the participants!

“See You At The Lake!”