Updated August 1, 2024
- Guests, Jackie and Peggy, created some
awesome tie-dyed shirts. They have done this for years.
They even made one for me in Packer colors! Can you find mine
in one of the 2 photos below? (July 27, 2024)
- Spooner and Shell Lake had grand fireworks to
celebrate July 4. We enjoyed the show at Shell Lake in perfect
weather conditions. (July 4, 2024)
- The "G" family enjoyed paddling on and
swimming in Benoit Lake!
- Our prairie restorations are looking showy!
Orange milkweed (in the photo below), wild bergamot, gray-headed
coneflower, common milkweed, and other native wildflowers are
blooming and attracting butterflies and bees. (June 1, 2024)
- Fishing on Benoit and other nearby lakes was
good in June and July. There has been lots of action from bass
and panfish. However, I've not heard reports of any large
northern pike or muskies of any size. (July 30, 2024)
- We had a pair of Baltimore orioles nest in
the spruce in front of unit 1. The pair successfully fledged
their babies. This is their sac-like nest as viewed from
below. The nest was only about 6 feet above the ground!
- Al, Sharon, Karen, and Vic R. enjoyed some
fine fishing in late-May. They know how to catch crappies!
(May 26, 2024)
- Ted "The Terminator" S. tied the resort
record with this 15-inch black crappie that he caught and released!
Good job Ted! "Admiral" Terry W. caught this respectable
11-inch crappie. Link to short video of us fishing on this
day:
https://youtu.be/5BIj6MDRxV8 . Good job fellas! (May
20, 2024)
- We had fabulous northern lights on the
evenings of May 10 and 11. This photo was from my phone and
taken on my dock. (May 10, 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)
- 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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