Browsing Wildlife, Information & Events around Lake Poinsett

When trying to identify a pair of ducks that Bob & I saw when we were out fishing the other night, I found this cool website.   I liked it because you could type in different identifying aspects of each species of plants, animals and birds.  http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/search_advanced.asp  I still don't know what kind of bird/duck we saw, but it was fun browsing.
Speaking of browsing, if you're looking for information and events around Lake Poinsett, visit the Lake Association's website: http://lpada.com/index.html or pick up the WELCOME TO LAKE POINSETT out this week published by Hamlin County Publishing http://www.hamlincountypublishing.com/

Nice Catch! Walleye taken from Lake Norden last night.

Everything's shaping up for a fantastic long weekend!

Everything's shaping up for a fantastic long weekend to kick off the best summer at the lake!  With the water level up, the fishing has been extraordinary.  The water is crystal clear and no report of weeds yet.  Today, it's so dark blue with a few white waves appearing to add to the beauty.  The water has actually gone down some, even when the wind is blowing towards shore, it doesn't feel so threatening.  Another foot or so down would be perfect so we got room for plenty of evaporation during the summer.  Reports of "fishing from the DECK", are becoming the thing to do for some.  Others are having success fishing from the DOCK.  Silver Bass and Northern Pike are keeping the up the action when the Small Mouth Bass and Walleye are being fickle.
Hope you all get out and enjoy the Memorial Day Weekend while remembering those we honor.

Timely tune for MEMORIAL DAY weekend sung by SheDaisy

Just listened to SheDaisy sing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic".  It gave me goose bumps.  Link will take you to free Yahoo music. http://new.music.yahoo.com/shedaisy/tracks/battle-hymn-of-the-republic--22252335

Tidbits

Last night, Don told me that his favorite site is ACU weather because they even predict the wind speed.  So you'll notice it to the left of this entry and it's already showing Arlington's weather.  Play around with it and it might become your favorite, too.

Bob's Birthday today.  Stop in Saturday night after 9pm, wish Bob a Happy Birthday and we'll buy you a shot.

Tonight is MEXICAN Fiesta at LAKEVIEW.  Hard shell tacos, taco salad, indian tacos, burritos, and chicken tortilla soup.  Corona Beer and Margaritas on the Rocks available.

Friday fish fry is still popular.  Shrimp, Catfishfish, Cod, and Alaskan Pollak specials.  Prime Rib and BBQ Ribs are the specials for Saturday night dining.  Bob will be doing Karaoke after 9 pm.

Supper specials at LAKEVIEW

Bob & I were in Duluth, MN this last week.  Weather was about the same as here.  Had a great day for traveling home, Friday. Got back in time for work. 
Very busy nights at the resort for suppers.  Friday's fish fry has grown in popularity.  Saturday night is now not only prime rib night, but the country-style, BBQ ribs are back for the summer.

lookin' up

The wind's died down, the light soaking rain has let up, the sand pile is temporarily deserted and everything has a bright green glow about it.  And it smells so good, like only spring can after a nice soft rain. Open up the windows and let the sun shine in.

except for the threat of flooding around the lake, is this the best spring weather week we've ever had in april?...!

Update to Water Board meeting: present board members were re-elected and the board will be re-evaluating where they will be going in the future.  Presentation info can be found online at the LAPADA website or SD-Department of Natural Resources.

meeting Saturday morning--Lake Poinsett Water Board

This Saturday morning at 10 am, the Water Project Board will meet at the Lake Poinsett Chapel. Find out more about the lake on the home page at the Lake Poinsett Area Development Association.  Here's the link.  http://www.lpada.com/index.html

White (or Silver Bass)

Though they may not be right up there for the serious fisherman, just a note about the Silver Bass.  For a fun, fighting fishing experience especially for kids--they are the best.  And for eating--cut off the belly meat when you clean them and fry them up fresh. 

Bob weighed a stringer of them last night at the resort and all eight were "proud anglers"!

Back from Denver via "the hills".

Bob and I are still unpacking from our annual trip to Denver.  We left early Easter Sunday morning and drove straight thru.  Felt pretty wiped out Monday, but we gained a day and an hour!  So had a little fun time on the other end in the Black Hills.

Busy time at the lake--sandbagging makes for hungry and thirsty folks.  Not all are working so hard, though.  Fishing has really picked up for cat, walleye, northern and smallies.  It's a windy one today.

Don't forget pool tournament Friday night.  Pool party is Saturday afternoon at Renegades.

Plan to be at LAKEVIEW next weekend for LIVE band, CROSSROADS playing Friday and Saturday nights starting at 9pm both nights!

ice off poinsett==correction--on LAKEVIEW side

On the west side the ice blew towards the north where it's piled up there.

Yet another email to pass on. Email your fish pictures!

"This is the new state record White Sucker caught in Lake Poinsett on March 28, 2010. I thought you would like a picture to post. The fish weighed 6lbs. 10oz, had a length of 23 1/2 inches, and a girth of 15 3/8 inches. This fish broke a record that was set in 1982 by 14 oz! Feel free to post the picture...

Eric Weeman
Arlington S.D."

A recent email we received, will add in more fish photos later

"Bob & Linda,

Just wanted to let you know we had an awesome time when we had 12 guys from my bachelor party! You guys were

ice off albert, poinsett ice breaking up

This is the shoreline at LAKEVIEW.  That is ICE--black ice and white ice chunks.  It's still pretty calm so it's not pushing up over the banks yet.  Just holding our breath & crossing our fingers while we are in this holding pattern...

The band, CROSSROADS as they appeared in December, 2009 at LAKEVIEW Resort

CROSSROADS coming again, April 23rd & 24th!!!

Reality check--Lake Poinsett and area lake's water levels are rising

Water everywhere you look, I can't stay in denial. The link to the news story on the left pretty much says it all. Fingers are crossed for good luck for all and prayers are being said for all to be spared from destruction.

Cold slows the thaw...

My first inclination on this first official Monday of Spring, is to complain about the north wind a-blowin' this morning after a chilly night. HOWEVER, think freeze-dry and it all gets better. The groundhog's shadow was a forecast for a late spring and if warmer weather and sunshine come slowly, odds have it that the flood risk goes down, right?

Saw alot of people out and about this last weekend. It was great. The fundraiser for Gary Cooper was deemed a success. We saw alot of people there in Badger that we hadn't seen in a long time. At Lakeview, Friday night we wrapped up the March madness pool tournament. This Friday night is our monthly dart tournament as the seasons wind down.

Reminder: Saturday is scheduled to be a Scavenger Hunt in the afternoon beginning with registration at 2:30. Please pre-register so we know your intent and can plan food, etc.

Benefit and Silent Auction-Sat. March 20th

A benefit and silent auction will be held from noon to 4pm, for Gary Cooper (to defray costs associated with his cancer treatment) beginning with a good will donation meal served at the BADGER American Legion Hall in Badger, South Dakota. Gary is the former owner of Arlington Beach and Siouxland at Lake Poinsett.

Flooding Concerns

I received this email yesterday. Thought I'd find a copy on the LAPDA website, http://lpada.com/index.html
but they had some other information.
There is a pile of sand at the Sorenson Beach parking lot south of LAKEVIEW Resort. As of this morning, the word is that LAKEVIEW is storing the bags for filling with sand. Just come in and ask for what you need...

"From: Smith, Richard - Hayti, SD
Subject: March 15 Poinsett Update

Will keep trying to get these updates out, as interest keeps growing. I
also appreciate the comments that many of you are making or asking and
hopefully we keep everyone informed with the situation.
Saturday night we received rain here and north into Codington County.
Early Sunday morning the Big Sioux River began to show life north of
Watertown to Castlewood with some gauging stations on the river jumping
5-7 ft within just a few hours. The outlet structure on Lake Poinsett
had the gates closed Sunday when it appeared all movement out of the
lake had stopped. At the time of closure approximately 2 1/2 ft of water
was at the gates over the concrete sill.
By Monday morning nearly the entire Big Sioux River flood plain was
under water from Watertown working to Estelline (as far as I checked).
Many roads had water flowing over them in the traditionally expected
places. The Boswell diversion gates (which are closed) were being
overtopped by about 1 foot of water, but some of that was probably due
to problems with ice flow through a bridge on the River. There was not
significant overland flow to Dry Lake at that time, again indicating
that the diversion issue was more of an ice problem on the River.
Monday also saw considerable pressure on the river side of outlet gates
as leakage could be observed boiling up on lake side. Possible a rock or
two may have been closed upon when gates lowered. Attempt may be made to
raise gate slightly to release rock with pressure from water now and
then close tighter.
Dolph Creek opened up fully on Monday and is running just about at full
capacity to get through bridges on its way to Lake Norden. I just spoke
to farmer along the creek and he said it was dropping slightly today,
after culverts and bridges opened up. Lake Norden Spillway had 1 foot of
overflow.
Western watershed-roads are going under water. All low areas, ditches
etc. are filled.

Today- I'm watching the hydrographs for Big Sioux River supplied by
NOAA. You can access them through KELO website by going to Spring
Flooding section under news or just go to NOAA and click on "water" tab.
Current crests are just below 1997 and 2001 record levels. This matches
with what we expected for runoff potential. The western watershed had
the same snow conditions as the Big Sioux River this year, so we can
assume that runoff from the west will approximate that received in 1997
and 2001. From travels yesterday in the west, we have much more water
this spring than last spring already pooled that will have to come to
Poinsett. In 2001 we added 6 ft to winter Poinsett levels, in 2009 we
added 5 ft plus. It seems very possible that we could add 5-6 ft to
Winter 2009-10 water levels this Spring from water on the ground
presently. Starting out with higher winter levels than previous years,
well, you do the math.

Now if that isn't enough to think about. Last Sunday several measured
the ice depth on Poinsett of 2 ft thick. Clouds and 34 degrees may melt
snow but little ice. The rise in water will be steady with the only
question being how high. The ice could be the problem that either goes
away or becomes the story.

SAND:
LPWPD voted to purchase 20,000 bags and when the are used, and down to 2,500 they have the approval to purchase another 30,000 additional bags.
The County has put sand at Lake View and Hammer's pasture on the north side of the lake. There is work to get more sand at other locations."

Tonight, Join Us at LAKEVIEW for fish fry & pool tournament

Last Friday, we started an all-u-can-eat fish fry (Alaskan Pollock) for Lent for $11.95. Our Cod, Catfish and Shrimp are still on special on Friday nights.

With two pool tables, we had a full house for last Friday night's tournament. With participants from as far away as Willow Lake, it turned into a battle between Estelline's Bryce and Russ for 1st place. Russ ended up coming up thru the loser's bracket to overtake Bryce who had not lost a game all night to capture the winner's bracket.

Don't forget to spring ahead your clocks, Saturday night. Bob will have the karaoke system primed and ready to go. We had a great night singing and dancing past midnight last Saturday.
Come on out, let's have some fun...

'round the lake--scavenger hunt

Mapping out details for a scavenger hunt around Lake Poinsett for
Saturday, March 27th, with registration at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Sound like fun?!!
Email, lakeviewresortsd@hotmail.com if you are interested in participating and you'd like more details about the day.

Don't forget the burger special going on the whole month of March at LAKEVIEW.

Loose Threads...

To wrap us some loose ends or threads on my desk...
Coupons are being sent out via email for a burger special running through the month of March. If you'd like to receive a coupon good for a buy one burger and get the second burger (of equal or lesser value) for 1/2 price email: lakeviewresortsd@hotmail.com

Weiland Marine is planning to sponsor their 3rd annual AYA (Angler Young Angler) Fishing Tournament. Each team consists of one angler with two youth anglers (under 17 yr.old). With exciting prizes (last year the winner received a boat, motor and trailer) and a fun environment for creating lasting memories, it is an extraordinary event. To know more about last year go to their website http://www.weilandmarine.com/html/aya_sd_regional_event_2009.html
and bookmark for a return visit as more information gets posted for 2010.

And finally, let me revise my weather forecast of February 2nd (Ground Hog's Day) because now a month later we are seeing March coming in like a Lamb (gentle and calm). The rest of that story is that then March will traditionally go out like a Lion (stormy weather). That being the case, I am predicting a long cold winter with an early spring. Just kidding. I think, though that we shouldn't look for spring weather until after April 1st, even thought the official 1st day of spring is March 20th. Now that's not all bad if we're talking about flooding threat. A long spring with a slow thaw, freeze, thaw is just what we need. Go to the Lake Poinsett LAPADA website http://www.lpada.com/11.html
if you want to know more about the possible flooding...