This and that.......

Oh, I know I shouldn't be so excited but just sit on this end of the business and see....cabin fever has struck, I'm tired of cooking sometimes as late as midnight....good wife that I am!!!

Houses are starting to come off the lake but give Jerry a call and he can set you up for the final days of walleye fishing.  WIth that said I need to also say that the walleye fishing has picked up some....not slamming them but catching them a little better than what it has been just lately.  I will also try to get the picture of the crappie that Mike caught posted under pictures.  Tom also caught a crappie last Sat night but I may have already said that.  Getting to repeat myself here.....

Matt says that he is willing to guide on some of the area lakes for crappies,blue gills, sunnies, etc now that walleye is coming to an end.  Give him a call at 218-647-8245 or 218-566-2299 if you are interested in taking in some of that kind of fishing. 

And just a thought for the day.....The worth of a man can be judged by how he treats his mother!! 

This past week end we had varied reports.  Fish were caught, people had a good time, some had really good luck and some not so good luck.  Now, doesn't that sound about usual?!!  Oh, and from what I witnessed this AM some went home not feeling so good!!!    A large whitefish was caught by one fellow but no pictures....a couple crappies were caught....nothing big I'm told only about 13".  (Man, do people get spoiled on Red!!!). 

Temps are supposed to get colder as the week goes on.  Have no clue how this will affect the final push of walleye fishing.  Feb 28 is the end and the houses come off the lake.

We are experiencing trouble with the battleriverrentals.com site....can't get on it myself but I see we have been having visitors all day so just curious on how you all are getting here.  Give me a note at saumone@yahoo.com  and let me know if you could please.   I'm working on the problem but a novice so please bare with me.

Well, it is now midnight so no clue what day this will post for.

Give Jerry a call if you'd like to fish the last week end of this years ice fishing season!  218-647-8673

Some day people started out with the fish biting like crazy but then it slowed down again.  The calendar says the fish should be biting....don't the fish look at that calendar???? 

It seems that I can't say this enough.....we DO NOT have anything to do with Carsella's except that we, Chad Benson and Ryan Klein are using that access and the three...Battle River Rentals, Chad and Ryan maintain the roads.  If you hear this please set the record straight.  There have been people that supposedly tried to rent from Carsella and it has not been a good experience if they even get into a house.  None of us would just give you the keys and tell you that you are on your own with drilling holes, etc.  We have someone out there most of the time if not 24/7.   Or we are just a phone call a way.  Neighbors down the road seem to be telling their customers (and ours even!!) that we are part of Carsella's Lodge.  We are NOT.  We sincerely thank all of our loyal customers and we want to keep you and we do that by doing our best to give you the service and houses you have come to expect.  We also greatly appreciate all the referrals you have given us.  What we had hoped to be a healthy, positive experience has not quite worked out with the new landing since the lodge is not completed.  We just do our best with what we've got and try to keep the roads maintained.  I do not know what this will mean for next year...only time will tell.  We are also told that a neighbor (and I use that term with reservations since that is not what I grew up expecting a neighbor to be like) has told customers of the three of us that they would gladly undercut the price if they rented from them next year.  If money is the only concern then go for it....you already know the service we provide.

Disclaimer....all opinions expressed are of this writer and not necessarily the same as the others involved. 

On to better things.......February is quickly coming to a close and that means the end of the walleye season!!!

Make your reservations now to get in on the last of this seasons action!!! 

I guess it depends on just who you talk to....some were having great luck and some not so great.  What can I say?  I certainly don't want to say that some are better fishermen than  others.....or that some work harder at it.....I just think some are luckier than others!!!!  I haven't fished walleye (or anything else for that matter) since back in the 80's!  I understand we have some families out there this week end and Matt said they seemed to be doing pretty good by drilling holes out and away from the house.  At least the day is nice and sunny.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a week end report unless Jerry gets home tonight with better news!!!  It's almost 11:00 PM so he may be showing up soon.

And remember HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! 

This is the kind of weather that is great for this time of the year....it gets cold at night but the sun warms it up in the daytime! 

Just posted another picture of a northern that was 41" long, CPR and I know for sure that this one was out of one of our houses.  Now I hope I have this story correct....Jon Balbach from Bemidji (Rutger's) gave his dad (Don) from AZ a fishing trip for Christmas and Jon's brother Jerry was along on the trip.  Don caught the northern and it snapped the line and he finished the fight with the jigging stick....after a good fight!  I'm sure this Christmas present was better than more socks and underwear!!  That's what Jerry asks for for Christmas and that's what he gets cuz he doesn't believe in Santa!!!   And I am talking about MY Jerry, not Jerry Balbach!!  (sorry about that...)  But what I think is the greatest gift in this situation is the memories that were created of catching a fish of that size together on Upper Red Lake.  Not sure if they caught many walleyes but at least they had some excitement if they didn't!

Mike caught a 15" crappie yesterday so that is exciting too!  Mike has been a big help to us during his time off from his regular job and we so appreciate it!  He is waiting to be called back to work soon tho  which I suppose is good for him!!

As you can see from the comment below.....I didn't get back here in time to edit this and give ALL the children of Don Balbach the credit for the fishing trip Christmas present to and from Arizona (that's what I get for being of FB!!! and working at the store, of course, and as well as babysitting my grandson who takes over my computer!!)  And now I see that I didn't get this at the end of the message, oh well...so it goes!!  I understand it is Jerry that meets his dad at the airport in Mpls to bring him up here and then bring him back.  Good thing we didn't have that really, really cold weather that we had earlier! 

I think Jerry still has some openings for sleepers on week ends so give him a call.  I'm waiting for him to tell me to come to the store so he can head up to the lake.

Good luck fishing....have a great time!

The fishing  has been slow this past days so when Jerry came back from the lake this afternoon he informed me that the fish are starting to bite again!!   It's tough when the fish decide they are not hungry and not bite on anyone's hook.....but I do have some nice pictures that I am going to post under the 2nd page of the 2009-2010 picture pages.  Previous guests were on the lake this past week end, not much for walleye but at least a little excitement in catching a 37" northern that went back to grow a little bigger.  I also received a nice pic of a crappie from over the week end.  AND....I have a picture to post of a 43" northern that was caught off out of Carsella's but not sure if it was out of any of our houses.  I am awaiting more details....but it sure is a fat one!!! 

We still have some openings on the week ends so if you are in need of a fish house give Jerry a call.

Jerry was up and snow plowed roads this afternoon.  The day was absolutely gorgeous....warmed up, sun shining......all good!~

Jerry was home before midnight (Friday) and says the fishing is slow.  Hopefully tomorrow will bring a different report!  Thank you to the Jamie Halvarson's for the pictures now posted and the compliments.  It is always good to see young folks learning the sport of fishing!! 

Weather is mild right now but it sounds like a storm maybe coming this way...we are kinda on the edge from what I could tell tonight.  Thank goodness this is Washington DC with their 30 inches of predicted snow!

Due to a cancellation of a large group we have some openings for this coming week end (first week end of Feb).  Give Jerry a call at 218-647-8673  and make a reservation now!  This doesn't happen very often.

Fishing was slower this past week end.  Fish were caught but it could have been better too.  Just the way it is I guess. 

Thanks to the renters from Maple Grove for their nice "thank you" on the Minnesota Fishing Hotspot.  We appreciate it greatly!