Updated April 2, 2024
- Our March weather was more like winter, while
our February weather was spring-like! Benoit Lake lost all of
its ice on March 2. This set a record for our observations.
Until this year, the earliest ice-out date we recorded was March 20,
2012. We finally have some snow on the landscape, but this will soon
be melted. We observed our first robin on March 5; this was
very nearly our earliest observation. (April 2, 2024)
- I have been monitoring our woods with
motion-activated cameras. Two pleasant and welcomed surprises
were the observations of a bobcat and fisher. (April 2, 2024)
- I had success while ice fishing on Benoit
Lake just before ice-out. On one morning I caught my personal
best crappie, a 14.5-inch fish! I released this beauty.
I did catch and clean some other crappies. (April 2, 2024)
- I completed renovations to the shower stall
in unit 1. I replaced some backer boards that had water damage
and installed a new fiberglass panel. (April 2, 2024)
- I fished at a nearby lake with my son and 2
friends. We kept some good bluegills for eating. We also
kept several pike that we donated to an eagle rehabilitation center
in Spooner. (February 2024)
- There is sufficient ice for foot travel on
area lakes. I've walked onto Benoit and other lakes recently.
There was 6-8 inches of good ice. There is no snow on the
lakes or in the woods. (Feb 3, 2024)
- My fishing success has been variable the last
couple of weeks. I've had some solid days of fishing, and then
some slow days. (Feb 3, 2024)
- We've finally had a week of cold weather and
ice fishing will begin in earnest on most lakes soon. However,
we only have about 4 inches of snow on the landscape and snowmobile
trails are currently closed. (Jan 18, 2024)
- I observed NO zebra mussels on a sampling
device that I had suspended under a dock during the summer of 2023.
Thank you to all who are careful to clean their boats before
launching them into Benoit Lake. (Jan 18, 2024)
- There was a strong thermocline present in
Benoit Lake in August, 2023. Below about 22 feet there was
less than 3 mg/l of dissolved oxygen. Generally there will not
be pike, bass, or panfish in water with less than about 3 mg/l of
DO.
- It has been nice summer with mostly pleasant
temperatures. We need some rain, but water levels in Benoit
Lake and other lakes are normal, possibly because of all the snow
melt back in spring.
- Guests have been catching bass and panfish.
Peggy, Jackie, and Dillon did good on crappies in our bay using
minnows in the evenings. I've caught some bass on surface
baits in the evening and on soft plastic baits at deep weed edge.
- The temperature and oxygen profiles on Benoit
Lake seem typical. On July 23, the dissolved oxygen got too
low for most fish at depths of about 22 feet. Water clarity
was about 10.6 feet on this date, which is similar to transparency
of July in other years.
- Bass fishing during May and June was good on
Benoit Lake and other lakes in our area.
Bryan and I caught some great bass on a nearby lake in mid-June.
Rich and Tommy caught and released this beautiful bass using a wacky
rigged stick worm. Good work!
Janet and Judy, my beloved cousins, caught these great bluegills on
Benoit Lake. We enjoyed them (the fish fillets) during
our family fish fry!
Cousin Bob and I enjoyed some fine fishing at a nearby lake.
We released all of our fish this day.
Cousin Jack is all smiles as his bass was bigger on this double!
We released these bass.
Stan Z. caught and released this beautiful bass using a beetle spin
in the shallows; May, 2023. Crappie fishing was excellent in our bay this May. Guests
caught some excellent fish right from our dock.
- Zebra mussels were discovered in Big McKenzie
Lake in October, 2016 and then in Middle McKenzie in 2017.
Both of these lakes are only a few miles from
Benoit Lake but are not directly connected to Benoit Lake.
Zebra mussels are an invasive species that can harm lake ecosystems.
We are concerned that these invaders are so close to our lake.
We encourage all boaters and anglers to be cautious when trailering
boats between waters. These boaters should always completely
drain live wells, bait buckets, and lower units when departing a
lake to help prevent the spread of zebra mussels and other aquatic
invasive species. It is typically impossible to rid a lake of
an invasive species once it becomes established. The DNR will
continue to monitor Big McKenzie and Middle McKenzie lakes for zebra
mussels in 2018.
I have hung a sampling device from our main dock
in the summers of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. The device is a series of flat plates layered
horizontally. Larval zebra mussels are free floating and will
attach to a hard surface. When I pull the dock ashore in fall,
I inspect the device for evidence of zebra mussels.
I'm told that they would feel gritty on the undersurface of the
plates. Fortunately, I've observed no evidence of zebra
mussels in Benoit Lake so far. If you take your boat to
other lakes, especially Middle McKenzie and Big McKenzie, please be especially careful before launching your boat into
Benoit Lake. Thank you in advance for being extra careful!
- State law prohibits smoking in motel
and tourism rooms statewide. The law went into effect on July
5, 2010. Smoking is still permitted outside. We ask that
our guests please respect this new law and also properly dispose of
their butts.
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