LITTLE BASS LAKE RESORT

     January 1st:  New Year Resolution:  I, Jerry Angst, do hereby resolve to

		   to create today (January 1, 2004) and on this date every year

		   hereafter, a new version of LBLR Chronicles and to keep it

		   current.



     January 2nd:  We start the year with a little less than a foot of snow on the

		   ground.  The skiing and snowmobiling are so-so but that's much

		   better than it was a year ago.



		   The ice on the lake is about a foot thick.  There are more ice

		   fishing shacks on the the lake than I've seen in the previous

		   eleven winters (nine at the maximum this year) but it appears

		   that none of them have been very successfull so far.



     January 3rd:  This morning my family and I finally got together for our

		   Christmas (which gets more and more difficult as the kids get

		   older and their families get larger).  But we finally did it

		   and everyone had a good time.  Click below to see a picture

		   of the Grandkids.



 Grandkids 

    January 12th:  LBLR has a problem this winter that it hasn't experienced in,

		   at least, the last twelve years......that is the presence

		   of some deer who seem to have developed a taste for the plants

		   on the shoreline at the north end the resort.  They tend to

		   enjoy these little snacks at irregular intervals, usually in

		   the middle of the night.  Normally I wouldn't have a problem

		   with a thing like this, but as they travel from the woods to

		   the lake and back, they like to nibble on the top shoots of

		   the little trees that I planted a few years back.  So far

		   they haven't done much damage, but it's beginning to worry

		   me a tad.



    January 14th:  We got about 4 inches of snow last night. Yay!!!!!  It's not

		   much.....but it's better than nothing.



    January 19th:  Count down to:  Spring -- 2 months and 1 day

				   Ice Out -- 3 months and 2 days (my prediction)

				   Fishing Opener -- 3 months and 26 days

				   Bob & Jo's Arrival -- 4 months and 1 day

				   Lori's Birthday -- 8 months and 6 days



    January 23rd:  The ice is 17 inches thick at the moment!



    January 24th:  34 degrees below zero this morning.	I wouldn't call that bitter

		   cold but it's the coldest we've seen this year.  With the few

		   inches of snow we got the night before last, I think the skiing

		   conditions are pretty good.	I also think that the snowmobiling

		   conditions are decent but since there seems to be a ton of sledders

		   out this weekend, the trails might be getting beat up a bit.



		   P.S.  Happy Birthday to my sister Beth!!!!!



    January 26th:  With the additional 6 or 7 inches of snow we got last night and

		   today, it's beginning to look like a normal winter.  Finally!!!!



    January 29th:  37 below zero this morning......the coldest so far this year.



    January 30th:  40 below zero this morning......the coldest so far this year.



    January 31th:  31 below zero this morning......starting to warm up?????



    February 4th:  30 below zero yesterday and today.....I'm beginning to think

		   that it's never going to get warm.....ever again.



   February 14th:  Brian and Ann (and Sosha) are here this weekend.



   February 15th:  Brian and I measured the ice this morning; it's 23 inches

		   thick at the moment.  Oh, and the temperature is 32 below.



       March 1st: Count down update:  Spring -- 17 days

				      Ice Out -- 51 days (my prediction)

				      Fishing Opener -- 75 days

				      Bob & Jo's Arrival -- 80 days

				      Lori's Birthday -- 204 days



       March 2nd:  Up in Angora, Minnesota, (a fair distance east of Deer Lake

		   Charlie's on Highway 1), there's a place Randy and I visited called

		   the South Switch.  It's a nice friendly little Bar/Restaurant which

		   serves the best "butter and garlic" chicken wings you've ever

		   tasted.  I know it's back in the sticks, but if you ever have the

		   chance to get there......do it!!!!



		   PS:	Due to the iron ore in the ground, you can't trust your compass

		   up there.....it'll go berzerk!



       March 6th:  LBLR hosted the 2nd annual Head Start Ice Fishing Outing today.

		   Actually Rene borrowed LBLR from me for a few hours and hosted

		   it.......I cleared out before it started.  A fun time was had

		   by all; click below see a few pictures of the kids fishing:

 Head Start 

       March 8th:  We've had a lot of warm weather and we've lost a lot of snow

		   (but there's a lot more to lose).  The ice is 22 inches thick.



      March 12th:  Today is the start of the 3rd annual "Halda Weekend"!



      March 20th:  Happy Spring Equinox (in Minnesota anyway.....it was yesterday

		   in California where my daughter is).  On this first day of Spring

		   the high temperature was in the mid 20s with a possible low

		   tonight of zero.



      March 21st:  The ice is still 22 inches thick but I'm sticking to my prediction

		   of "ice out" in a month (4/21).  56 days till the fishing opener.



       April 2nd:  The docks are out of the water, or should I say off of the ice(?),

		   which, by the way, is still 19 inches thick.



       April 7th:  Some geese have been lounging in the open water at the edge of the

		   ice on the Mississippi River for a week or two now, and I saw my

		   first pair of Mallards this morning......also on the edge of the

		   ice on the Mississippi.



       April 9th:  The Spring raking is done(!).....a couple weeks later than last

		   year.  Thanks to Steven, Travis, and Andrew, for doing it.

		   I saw some Golden Eyes on the Mississippi river this morning

		   and the Purple Finches have returned.



      April 12th:  I measured the ice thickness this morning and it was 13.5 inches.

		   However, I only went out about 13 feet from shore, and I suspect

		   that it's thicker further out.  I know I'm being overly conservative

		   but when ice is starting to melt it scares me to death, so this is my

		   last report on ice thickness.



      April 18th:  The warm weather and last night's rain loosened up the ice sheet, and

		   the East wind blew it into my shoreline.  Luckily, it doesn't look

		   like there's much damage to the shore underneath, but the ice should

		   be gone in a short time and then we'll see.  Click below to see some

		   pictures.



		   Note to Randy:  To the best of my knowledge the wind was straight out

		   of the East ever since the ice started to move.....so Peterson Bay is

		   probably safe.  You've been lucky so far, but there's still a lot of

		   ice out there so it's not over yet.

Ice Pictures

      April 19th:  The loons are back!!!!



      April 20th:  THE ICE IS GONE!!!!!  That's one day ahead of my prediction from Jan 19th.

		   April 20th is about average; the earliest I've seen it was March 30th and

		   the latest was May 7th.



      April 24th:  This afternoon Randy and I took a bottle of wine on his boat and went on

		   our early Spring ritual.....the first Wine Cruise.  We've done it every

		   Spring for the last several years, but this is the first time we took a

		   camera with us.  Click below to see the pictures.

Wine Cruise

	 May 1st:  Hurray, hurray, for the First of May.......etc.

		   Brian and Ann are here again (as well as Lori), and the Front Porch is

		   in the water!!!!!



	 May 5th:  Happy Cinco De Mayo to all!!!!  And in case you're wondering Brian,

		   the pontoon is running.



	May 13th:  It was 35 degrees and it snowed off and on this morning.  Something

		   tells me that, weather-wise, Saturday will not be a pleasant opener!



	May 15th:  12:30 AM.  Fishing opener......26 degrees.....darn!



	May 20th:  Click below to see Jeff and Jordan fishing.

Jordan

	June 9th:  It has been a cold and windy Spring.  The wind has made it difficult

		   to fish, and when you could get out there, the fishing was generally

		   bad......not just here, but all over.  Two days ago it seemed like

		   maybe the fishing was getting back to normal, but this morning I saw

		   the first May Flies of the season; so I guess we'll have a few more

		   days of poor fishing.  Oh well, it'll turn around soon!  PS: Lori is

		   here this weekend!



       June 12th:  Last Tuesday while we were fishing, Bob and I thought we saw at least

		   one baby Loon, but it was difficult to tell.  This evening while Lori

		   and I were on the lake we saw at least one baby Loon, and possibly a

		   second one.	This is at least 2 weeks earlier than I've ever seen a

		   baby Loon on Little Bass Lake before.



	July 8th:  My Grandkids and their Crappies.....click below to see them:

Grandkids and Crappies

       July 21th:  Click below to see a picture of the group that's here this week.

The Big Group

       July 23rd:  Loons can be startling!  Lori and I were sitting on the front porch with

		   our backs to the lake when suddenly we were startled by a loud loon call

		   right in back of us.......it was really a shocker!  We turned around to

		   look and a loon was only 4 or 5 feet behind us.  Loon calls really are

		   loud from that close range!



       July 28th:  Here are Sharon, Teresa, and Bob, with their morning's effort. From the smug

		   look on Bob's face, you'd think he caught them all.....but that's not true.

		   Three people and nine Northerns....they filled out. Click below to see them.

Sharon, Teresa, and Bob's fish

      August 1st:  Here are some wild flowers that are growning along the LBLR shoreline.  The

		   Showy Lady Slippers are not included because they're way past their prime.

Flowers

      August 3th:  Is it possible to tip the swimming raft over?!  I wouldn't have thought so!

		   Well, just ask Angela, or Alex, or Melanie, or Zach, or Katey, or Tim!  (And

		   please don't do it again!!!!!!)  Click below to find out!  PS:  If any of

		   you guys see this, send me an E-mail.

Upside Down Raft

      August 4th:  Is it Autumn yet?!?!?!  Click below to see the Maple tree between my house

		   and cabin # 3.

Maple tree

     August 13th:  Here are Jim and Alice out on a little lake tour.  By the way Jack, this

		   is proof that the welding job you did on their motor is holding up well.

		   Click on their names below to see them.

Jim and Alice

     August 13th:  What a fun night at the fire!!!!!! Click below to see it.

     (later....)

Fun Fire

     August 16th:  Click below to see a couple of neat pictures of mother and daughter loon

		   (or father and son loon, or any other combination.......I can't tell).

Loons

     August 28th:  The annual Peterson Weekend!!!!  Click below to see it.

Peterson Weekend!

     October 1st:  This has not been a great year for colors, but since it's October 1st

		   I'll include one leaf picture.  It's on Soring Road several blocks

		   from here.  Click below to see it.

Colors!

     October 3rd:  Well......maybe one more leaf picture.  This is the trail to

		   Randy's Cabin.

More Colors!

     October 6th:  What a gorgeous Fall morning!

Autumn Morning

   November 21st:  Here are the results of Ron, Dave, Mike, and Curt's deer hunting

		   this year.  They got the buck on opening day and they got the 3

		   does this past weekend.  Good job you guys!

Deer Pictures

Thanksgiving Day:  Peterson Bay is covered with ice but the rest of lake has a lot

		   of open water yet.  Notice the light dusting of snow that fell

		   this morning.  Click below to see it.

Ice

   November 27th:  We're still waiting for ice......we got just a little more snow

		   last night but still not much ice.

Still Waiting!

    December 1st:  This is all the open water that's left in the whole lake and I'd

		   bet that will be gone before tomorrow morning; therefore I'm ready

		   to declare the lake frozen as of today.  That open spot is in front

		   of Cabin # 1; that's the Cabin # 3 dock in the foreground.

Finally!

    December 19th: 26 below zero this morning!



	     If you'd like something mentioned in here, send me an e-mail

				   and let me know.