Wrapping up 2015
It’s difficult to believe the 2015 season is truly over! We will take the last boat out of the water tomorrow and camp is nearly closed (sad face).Fishing in 2015 was incredible as always. Our conservation efforts, started many years ago, including size limits on all species, has greatly increased the size and numbers of fish caught. We continually heard of guests having issues catching walleye for shore lunch UNDER 18″! What a good problem to have. The Pike and Musky fishing was solid and Perch were up from last season. We also saw a fair number of Crappie! Back to Walleye – we had more than we can remember caught in the 28″-31″ range. Perrault Lake is definitely a world class fishery.The roofers have a few more days and will be finished with an awesome looking traditional green roof to keep our 1945 lodge dry for years to come. It looks great! Check out Facebook for pictures. Speaking of pictures, we will load what we have to the website in the coming weeks, but encourage you to follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the most current news and photos. We also still need your photos for our sport-show booth, picture books, and brochure! Send to manotak1945@gmail.com or we can exchange via Shutterfly or another app.For next season, we have plans for some new motors! Yamaha 50s of course. Steve (who has a birthday tomorrow!) is also re-doing some decking on a few boats to keep them in the shape you expect for a top of the line camp boat. We will maintain the new depth finders purchased at the start of 2015 and the minnow buckets. We also added leach containers at the end of July to cut down on the Styrofoam containers used. We will continue on painting projects and replacing boards on decks and cabins where needed in 2016. Cabin 15 got a brand new deck this season and Cabin 1 is painted. About 1/4 of the camp got new mattresses with more planned for 2016! The better you sleep the more fish you can catch!In 2015 we upgraded the technology so each cabin could get wifi. We attempted to make the web cam more stable, but sadly could not. We did find out, thanks to some very smart friends, the main issue is the length of wire the signal has to travel, causing the camera to lose signal and need re-setting. Over the winter we will be looking at solutions to remedy this!We are excited to say we have verbal commitments from many staff for 2016. Earl and Pasty plan to return and also Gary and Juliette. They will see to your every need at the dock and in the dining room/cabins. Mary-Ann is returning to help in the dining room and laundry. We have Willie returning as guide and we also have Bill to guide you. We will begin our search for a cook/chef and also another cabin cleaner/dining room server at the first of the new year. If you know a Canadian who would be a good fit for Manotak Lodge, have them call us 800-541-3431. Our staff is key to making your experience here at Manotak a positive one and we want only the best. We cannot say enough how thankful we are to have each of these folks on our team.We will be here in camp another week or so and then head south. Once back in Bloomington we will begin work on more guest communications, including confirmation letters. Keep the referrals and bookings coming! 2016 is shaping up to be a wonderful year thanks to all of you, our guests! As always, we are fortunate to have become part of the Manotak Family and we are blessed to have met so many wonderful, kind, fun people this past season. We will be enjoying some down time at the holidays and before the sport show season but will always be available to take your calls and respond to email. Contact info and sport show dates posted below. Manotak Lodge, PO Box 7406, Bloomington, IN 47407 Toll Free 800-541-3431 manotak1945@gmail.com2016 Sport Shows (https://www.manotak.com/2015-sport-shows)Subject to ChangeJAN 8-10 Let’s Go Fishing Show, Collinsville, ILJAN 14-17 All Canada Show; St Charles, IL; Pheasant Run ComplexJAN 21-24 All Canada Show; Green Bay, WI; Oneida CasinoFEB 4-7 All Canda Show; Minneapolis, MN; Canturbery ParkFEB 19-28 Indianapolis Boat Sport and Travel Show; Indianapolis FairgroundsMAR 2 – 6 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sport Show; Wisconsin State Fair GroundsEnjoy the fall season and the holidays!- Christine
