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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