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The critters of Loon Lake Decoy Company

2009-07-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

Chances are you already know Loon Lake Decoy Company loves their pets, animals and critters. From bugs to dogs and cats to waterfowl, songbirds, big game and fish there is not much that walks, crawls, swims or flies that we don’t enjoy watching, petting, catching or taking care of. We surround ourselves with nature and animals in our personal and business lives and we enjoy every minute of it.

“Lucky” the stray cat became part of the Loon Lake Decoy Company staff within a few months of us opening our doors almost 18 years ago. At the time most of our property was being used as a cornfield. As we enjoyed our lunch outside the shop one fine early summer day we heard a faint meow. Soon another meow and another came from the cornfield. After trying off and on for a better part of that afternoon we were able to coax three very small kittens from the expanse of the corn field. Now these tiny kittens had obviously been dumped on our doorstep by some uncaring individual who did not want to do the right thing. After a discussion amongst partners it was decided we would keep one kitten and find good homes for the other two. “Lucky” named after the fact she was lucky to have survived being abandoned has been a permanent part of the staff ever since.

Lucky gave birth to two small litters of kittens after which it was decided she needed to make a short visit t the vet. All the kittens were given to good homes and one named Mello still resides with our Art Director Mikki and her family. Lucky has also proven to be fair at keeping the mouse population in check around the shop, each fall as the mice try to make the shop their winter vacation home we find Lucky busy welcoming the uninvited visitors. She is now the senior animal member of the staff, a position she lets all the underling dogs know with the flash of a razor sharp paw when they invade her private space. It is always a show anytime a new dog enters the mix as they learn just which pet rules the Loon Lake roost.

Stay tuned as we introduce you to more of the Loon Lake animal staff in the coming weeks.

Gary

Happy 4th of July!!

2009-07-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

As we take time to celebrate the founding of our nation please remember and thank all our brave troops that have served, are servicing and will serve in the future to defend our freedoms.

Be safe this Fourth of July, be responsible and safe behind the wheel and in your celebration activities. Every one of our customers are valued and considered part of the Loon Lake family, we want you all back safe and healthy on Monday.

Keep an eye out for wildlife this weekend as well. The Whitetail Deer fawns are really started to move around this time of year so keep a sharp eye out for them as you travel. I have seen at least 20 fawns including a set of triplets in the last few days on my way back and forth to work. It would not make for a good Fourth if you hit a deer. Speaking of wildlife on the way in to work today I saw a pair of Greater Sandhill Cranes, what a magnificent bird to watch in flight. In the last few years we are starting to see more and more of them in the area as they expand their home range westward.

Please note the Loon Lake Decoy Company Factory Outlet Store will be closed Friday July 3rd and will reopen on Monday July 6th.

Personally I am looking forward to spending some time with family and wetting a line. Also thinking grilled salmon or chicken is sounding like a good Fourth of July dinner for the kids and grandkids before we head down to see the local fireworks.

Please take time to vote on our poll about for your favorite way to grill out this summer. This poll question came about after a heated debate between a couple very good outdoor cooks that I know. I am looking forward to seeing what method you think is best and sharing your input with my buddies.

Again have a great and safe Fourth.

Welcome to another week in tropical Minnesota.

2009-06-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

Wow have we been hot and humid this past week. While the crops, especially corn loves it, we northern human types have found the past week down right uncomfortable. With temperatures in the 90’s and humidly thick enough you can see it in the air the change from a long cool spring to full blown summer is taking some getting used to. Hopefully the body acclimates before I melt.

I just had the pleasure of meeting a most pleasant couple from Florida in the Loon Lake Decoy Company Outlet store. Both having lost their first spouses this interesting couple met each other while riding motorcycles around the country. After a seven week around the east coast motorcycle romance they wed and now some years later they have purchased a motor home and spend their summers traveling the country.

He is a retired from the construction business and she is a former school teacher. Both still love to meet people and see new things. Being a woodworker the gentlemen had an interest in wood carved wildlife sculptures so when they were told about Loon Lake they made a point to stop by.

It was fun to explain to them how we create our waterfowl sculptures and see how much interest they had in how we turn a block of wood into a beautiful work of art. It was also great to hear their stories about some of the places they have gone in search of finding unique gifts to take home for their kids. At one stop in upper Michigan a couple years ago they were visiting a small craft store when the conversation came around to what they did for a living. Upon learning she was a teacher the clerk asked her where she had taught school and come to find out she was a former math student from 1960. Needless to say they enjoy a find visit together. While here they found some bargains in the outlet store and after some discussion decided the motor home was still able to support a few more pounds and had enough room that Christmas this year will feature some Loon Lake Decoy Company sculptures from Minnesota. What a pleasure it was to get to meet them and as they travel down the road and read this Blog I hope my story puts a smile on their face as their visit did mine.

Have a great evening.
Gary

Friday is Here

2009-06-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been a bit since my last Blog, been very busy around work and the old homestead.

A couple important updates regarding the website, as you can see we have changed our front page and we have added our Loon Lake Decoy Company Gift Certificates to the website. They make a great gift for those hard to buy for folks and if you need a last minute gift we can get them to you quickly.

The July desktop background calendar is now posted on the website, sorry about missing June, between a computer bug and it being crazy around here it did not get up in time.

Mr. Melton a former full time employee with us was back in town for three days this week. It was a pleasure having him back at his desk assisting us. For those of you who have met Dan at the shows you know he is a good man who is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and help out customers and his fellow staff. Thanks Dan for all you help this week, was fun having you back for a few days.

Rain, Rain, Rain, wow have we had enough bad weather the last couple days. Let’s hope we get a couple days to dry out and give people with damage to their homes and businesses some time to get a little clean up done.

Well I am off to do trout stream habitat restoration work this weekend so my guess is I will drop a few pounds with the hard work, will be good to get that exercise in for a change.

Have a great weekend.
Gary

Memorial Weekend

2009-05-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Wow what a weekend, BUSY is the only way to describe it. Friday night went down to the cabin to do some more work. Than enjoyed some deep fried Gulf shrimp, Rib-eye steak, morel mushrooms, and asparagus with friends, Scott, Tom, Carrie, Sid and Matt. Also had a great campfire. Saturday worked on the cabin and did some fly fishing for trout, fishing was so-so, the Light Hendrickson’s should be starting anytime but they were not coming off yet, can’t wait they are a fun hatch to fish.

Sunday was all family, got up early and went over to the old home town of Arcadia, WI for Broiler/Dairy Days. Watched the parade at my brother and sister in-laws home on main street, had some of the famous RKD grilled chicken, some shrimp and venison kabobs then headed up to the carnival with the kids and grandkids. Had fun playing the games and watching the grandkids on the different rides. The kids even got old Dad to go for a ride on the Tilt A Whirl, figured I had size and weight to get it flying, didn’t disappoint them. After the young kids left we got together with the adult in-laws and went up to the beer garden/pavilion to see a band called The Dweebs. They were fun, played a variety of music and Benjamin could really belt out the tunes. Was nice hearing some decent live music, would go see them again.

Monday was home work day, installed a new dishwasher, what a pain, too old for laying on a hard floor working it a space designed for a mini human, updated and upgraded some of my home computer components, backup power supply, keyboard, mouse and added a 1 terabyte external hard drive for storing pictures and music. For supper grilled some excellent Sockeye Salmon. Served it with a nice cream, capper, dill weed, butter sauce, asparagus, coleslaw and had some very good bagel bread with olive oil and a balsamic vinegar reduction, not a bad way to end the long weekend.

Tuesday I am back at work and it is nice to make some sales and get back to the regular grind of business. At lunch today I read the first story that made sense about the economy turning around and why the recession has reached the bottom is now on the way back up, Good news indeed. Here is the link if you would like to read it yourself, http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/the-recession-it-is-over-economist-says.aspx.

Hope you had a good weekend, it was safe and THANK YOU to all our veterans who have served and are serving this great country of ours. We can never repay you for all you have done to protect our freedoms.

First Hummingbird of the Year!

2009-05-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

The first Ruby Throated Hummingbird of the year just showed up at my feeder outside my office window. I was finishing my lunch at 12:45 PM today when I looked up and saw a beautiful male land for a quick drink. I am looking forward to having them back for the season, their constant movement and chatter make them one of my favorite birds to observe. Now I feel like spring really is here!

Gary

Glad to be back at work!

2009-05-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well it is good to get back to work after having the past week off. I am looking forward to calling some of our customers and getting back in the sales mode.

I enjoyed my week off with my two brothers and a young nephew. We spent our time turkey hunting, fishing, and enjoying nature. We saw many different kinds of wildlife including some fun encounters with nesting Wood Ducks. It is fun watching how fast they can move through the trees. As fast as they go it is amazing they never crash.

Deer are still plentiful, even after last years near record hunting season and a hard winter there were lots of deer around. We had one group of 12 or 13 get within just a few feet of us as we sat motionless along a hillside one afternoon. Of course turkeys are not smell sensitive so we were not scent free and it was driving the deer crazy. They could smell us but not see us so they really put on a show. They went through all the hoof stomping, head bobbing and snorting trying get us to move and give away our position. They finally moved off walking up hill about 20 yards to the side of us and as they went up the hill here comes the flock of turkeys we were calling, 9 birds, 2 hens and 7 jakes so no shot for Mitch in that bunch. By the way Mitch is my brother’s 12 year old son and it was his first year turkey hunting. It was great getting him out and sharing time in the field with him. He did not get a bird but he came very close one afternoon after school. We were set up in the same spot my Dad shot his last bird at. All four of us were together, Mitch’s Dad Terry was filming, Mitch and brother Dave were the shooters and I was calling. We got four long beards to come within 10 yards. Unfortunately Mitch moved and the birds busted us, started putting and moving off. I putted back and switched to an excited yelp that got one bird to gobble so it settled the others down. They then moved to the other side of the brush they were behind and Dave ended up with the 9 yard shot instead of Mitch. That is the way it goes there is never a sure thing in hunting or fishing but it certainly was exciting to watch Mitch’s reaction as four long beard turkeys were gobbling less than 15 yards from us.

It certainly would have been great if Mitch would have gotten a bird there. How cool would it be to get his first bird in the same place his grandpa got his last.

Fishing, we fished for Crappies twice during the week. We had fair success, the bite was just ok and the fish were running a bit small. The first time out we only had a couple hours to fish and even though we caught some nice fish we released everything we caught that day. The second trip we kept a dozen 13 to 15 inch fish, brother Dave wants to share a fish fry this week with a lucky friend so we kept some for him. The best bite we got ended up being on 1/16 and 1/8 ounce jigs with yellow or white twister tail bodies. We cast to shore and than worked the jig back slowing letting it swim and fall into 25 feet of water. Most of the bites came in the lower 5 to 8 feet of water with the occasional aggressive biter hitting a swimming jig higher up in the water column. As we pulled out on the second day we got checked by the Game Warden, nice to see them out protecting our natural resources. Was fun talking with him, he was also turkey hunting and he had just gotten his bird the day before so we shared some success stories.

That is it for now, it is almost 9 AM and I have to return some customer phone calls. Again good to be back at Loon Lake and I look forward to speaking with soon.

Eagles

2009-05-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

Check out this new website www.LisaLC.com. Lisa is a wildlife photographer from Rochester, MN and her husband David and her stopped in at the Loon Lake Outlet Store on Sunday 5-3-09 during the 100 Mile Garage Sale.

What a nice couple and an interesting story Lisa has to tell. She monitors multiple Eagle nests in the Whitewater Valley on a daily bases and reports what she sees and posts daily about what they are doing, she also puts up some pictures about what the Eagles are up to from time to time. I checked it out after I closed the store today and I think you will find what she is doing interesting. I know I am looking forward to visiting her gallery in Stockholm the next time I get over there.

Thank you to all of you who stopped in the Outlet Store this weekend, I enjoyed meeting some of you for the first time and getting to see some of our longtime customers. It is fun catch up with those of you I know and to meet so many fellow nature fans. I will pass on your many compliments to our carvers and staff. They work very hard to create their works of art and I will make sure I let them know how much you enjoy them.

Everyone enjoy your Sunday evening, I am off next week to enjoy nature myself.

Best regards,
Gary

And the results are in!

2009-04-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

Our latest poll closed with camping being the most popular spring activity for our readers followed with a tie for second place between fishing and wild turkey hunting. With spring fishing seasons opening up in Minnesota in the next couple weeks our next poll asks you what your favorite freshwater fish is. I expect this one to be a heated match between North America's favorite gamefish species.

Speaking of Wild Turkey Hunting, our first two 5 day seasons are under our belt and I have heard some awesome success stories already. A friend hunted the first season here in Wabasha County and he managed to get a beautiful gobble that weighted a bit over 27 pounds with an 11 inch beard and 1.5 and 1.6 inch spurs. Hard to beat a well prepared wild turkey on your dinner table either, they have a wonderful nutty but mild favor that if cooked slow and moist will put the best store purchased bird to shame.

Here tick, tick, well the first wood and deer ticks have been found in our area. That means the next couple months if you get out in the woods take care to check yourself over when you get home. Those nasty little guys as we all know can carry several no fun diseases including Lymes which is one you certainly want to avoid.

WINDY! That is the only way to describe this weeks weather. It has been so bad that I have had to put by bird feeder pole up twice in the last three days. Poor birds just about get blown off when they land on one of the feeders. This weekend is supposed to be more of the same with some rain thrown in for good measure. Sounds like a good time to get some spring cleaning done around the house, there is one excpetion for our local Ducks Unlimited fundraiser Saturday night. That is always a great time to see old friends, tell a few stories and get caught up on what the area outdoorsmen have been seeing for migrating songbirds, waterfowl and raptors. I am sure pleanty of sping fish stories and reports will also be in abundance.

Thanks for reading our Blog and make sure you vote for your favorite fish!

Have a great weekend.
Gary

Tip of the month!

2009-04-23T07:12:00.001-07:00

Don’t do what I am doing by working today!!

If you love trout fishing today is the day to get out of work. I was down last night on Trout Run doing some prep work for this years stream habitat restoration project and a couple of friends who went down yesterday morning to fish let me know the Little Gray Caddis “Brachycentrus” was hatching in big numbers. This is one of or the best hatch we have left in SE MN and when it is peaking like it should today the water can literally boil with rising fish. Almost every fish in the stream should be looking up the next couple days. If you are lucky or sneaky enough to get out there today or tomorrow you should find some awesome fishing. Look for the hatch to start around noon maybe a little later depending what stream and where you are on the stream. Start with a size 16 or 14 pupa pattern, go to a dry and than as the day progresses you should see returning egg laying adults. For the egg laying adults do not be afraid to pull/skate your fly a bit, it imitates the adults egg layers as they dip their abdomen or dive under the water to deposit the eggs and it drives trout nuts. It is a incredible to watch these fish as they attack the fly as it bounces across the waters surface.

I think I feel a bit of the stomach flu coming on right now!!!

Want to take advantage of this hatch? The pupae are bright green, size 14 or 16; the adults are charcoal gray, sizes 16 to 18. Gary LaFontaine's Sparkle Pupa ---

Sparkle Pupa
Hook: 100SP BL sizes 12 to 16
Thread: Black 8/0
Weight: Several wraps of fine lead wire-if weighted
Underbody: Caddis-green dubbing
Overbody: Green sparkle yarn
Head: Peacock herl or black ostrich herl

or a dark Elkhair Caddis dry are excellent patterns to use.

Monday Morning News

2009-04-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

First off I have to complain, it is COLD and WET out today, Saturday was so nice 70 and sunny and then that darn weatherman buddy of mine turned off the heat, they say we need the rain but whose idea was it to turn on the AC?

I had a very nice weekend, as I said Saturday was super weather wise and the fishing and sharing the streams with friends was great. I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with the MNTU guys, sharing fly tying info, fish stories etc.

Friday I sent my visiting Flat Stanley’s back to their home in China Texas. For those of you who do not know about Flat Stanley they are an elementary school project where the kids cut out ad color Stanley and send him around the country for visits to far off places. The host then takes Stanley to work, local events and sights, writes about Stanley’s adventures and sends them home to educate the kids about new places. This was the first time I have ever had a Stanley visit and I have to say I enjoyed the opportunity to share some news about our business and local area with the kids in China Texas. This is a unique way to learn about places outside your local community. Picture below shows the Flat Stanley's visiting with three grandkids and myself.

On Friday we had a major fire in St. Charles, a local town not far from Loon Lake. I got to see the fire as I went down to the cabin and it was not good. They evacuated the entire town of 3600 for 24 hours and over 100 people are out of jobs. As a result of the water runoff from fighting the fire there was fish kill in a local trout stream. Luckily there was no human lose of live and hats off to the over 70 volunteer and paid firefighters who battled this challenging blaze. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090417/ap_on_re_us/poultry_plant_fire

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=47&a=395149

Business wise we are getting ready for Mother’s Day and the summer tourist season. Hard to think summer when it is so damp and cold out but now is the time we get many orders from our dealers who have stores and shops in the summer vacation areas around the country. If you are one of our wholesale customers please take a look at the dealer only section of our website. Many of you asked us to create that part of the site so it is easy and convenient to place orders, especially reorders. Being old school I would never guessed it would be so popular but I am continually surprised by all the orders we get that way and at some of the times the orders at placed. It certainly tells me a lot of you are either very busy at your businesses during the day or you are night owls. It is real easy to get signed up and a password for the dealer section. Simply click on this link http://www.loonlakedecoycompany.com/shop/7/page/dealer-registration.html and take 2 minutes to register. You will then be sent a password to use when you login.. If you have any questions of prefer order by phone please give us a call at (800) 555-2696, you can also fax orders to us at (651) 565-2696 or email the to loonlake@loonlakedecoycompany.com. If you would like to contact me personally feel free to do so at the same phone numbers or my email at garys@lakes.com.

Speaking of Mother’s Day, it is not far off now and we have many excellent gifts for any Mom who enjoys nature. Imagine how much Mom would enjoy a new songbird sculpture or lamp this year.

Mark your calendar, the 100 Mile Garage Sale is the first weekend in May, the 2nd and 3rd this year. It starts in Red Wing and goes south to Winona on both sides of the river. Watch the blog for updates on our hours and specials we are planning for this fun event.

Have a great day!
Gary

Loon Lake Happenings

2009-04-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

I am looking forward to the weekend, Trout Opener is here!!!

Want some great fishing, well it is going to happen this weekend on SE MN streams. The water conditions are excellent, the Baetis, Dark Hendrickson and Midges are hatching and the little Gray Caddis hatch could happen anytime. I have spoken with my DNR contacts and the spring trout shocking numbers are looking good. We are hosting the Minnesota Trout Unlimited State Council meeting Saturday morning and I have been told it will be done by noon so everyone from around the state that attends will have plenty of time to wet a line. I am looking forward to seeing the guys and sharing time on the water with them.

Visit our website page with our folk art fish if you can't make it out this weekend, www.loonlakedecoycompany.com/shop/7/category/364

Loon Lake happenings this week include us adding a half dozen new items to the bargain corner and getting some of the first spring yard work done around the shop, nice to clean things up a bit after a long winter. We also are pleased to say that we are working with Ducks Unlimited on designing a new decoy concept for their fundraising banquets.

Speaking of Ducks Unlimited, if you are a committee member and are looking for an excellent item for your banquet make sure you call the National Office right away. They informed me they are running low on the DU exclusive (available only throught Ducks Unlimited) Flying Mallard Wall Mount Pair we handcrafted for them. If you want this special sculpture you need to order it soon before they are all gone, the National Office number is (901) 758-3825.

Make sure you check out the Eagle cam, the parents are real busy feeding the three chicks and it is fun to see all the different kinds of fish and animals the adults bring back to the nest for the young ones. It is going to be an interesting spring keeping tabs on them. http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/index.html

Looking to find out what Decoys can be worth check out the Guyette and Schmidt website, they are the auction house that sells the most expensive decoys in the world. One visit to http://www.guyetteandschmidt.com/ and you will be checking out your attic.

Next week Wednesday is Earth Day, the Earth Day website is a good place to see how you can enjoy the day and help the planet. http://ww2.earthday.net/

One last thing, our washer broke down yesterday spilling water all over our utility room. My lovely bride is saying it is time to get a front load machine. If any of you have good advice or experience with the front loading machines please drop me a note regarding what you would recommend. Thank You!

Thanks again everyone for your comments about the blog, please email me any input, ideas or subjects you would like to see us touch on.

Gary
garys@lakes.com

Poll Results In!

2009-04-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

Results are in to our first Blog Poll and the favorite waterfowl species was Mallard number one followed by in order, Wood Duck, Pintail, Widgeon and Merganser. The new poll is up so make sure you vote today and let your voice be heard.

Nature and Mother’s Day

2009-04-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a great Mother’s Day gift, make sure you stop in to our Factory Outlet Store, check out our website or give us a call at (800) 555-2696 and we will be happy to send you a brochure. For Mom’s who love nature Loon Lake has many excellent items for you to choose from. Our many varieties of Coat Hooks make fun inexpensive gifts for Mom. What Mom would not like a Rooster or Songbird hook for use in the kitchen or how about a Nesting Wood Duck Pair Sculpture.

This popular sculpture can be either set on a shelf or hung on the wall making it a simple way to add a touch of nature wherever Mom would like it. From lamps to candleholders, to loons and songbirds let Loon Lake make finding the perfect Mother’s Day gift easy and affordable.

Well I hope you all had a safe and nice Easter with your families. I spent Easter Sunday celebrating with my brother, his wife and family. They hosted all of our family members and hers so we had a great time and delicious eating. We all brought a dish to pass and the dry cured ham they prepared was top shelf. It was a nice day and the kids had a wonderful time with the Easter Egg Hunt, my granddaughter Madilyn was old enough this year to participate without adult help and she held her own with the older kids including my grandson Dominic. Granddaughter Claire is only 6 months old so she will have to wait a while before she can join in the hunt. It is always a fun to watch the kids search for all the hidden eggs and the treasures each egg holds.

On Saturday I spent some time on a local trout stream, the early catch and release season is open and the year’s first good hatches are starting. It was about 55 degrees out so by 12:30 PM Midges, Baetis and Dark Hendrickson flies were all coming off which really got the trout feeding. For a while is was a fish on every accurate cast. While I did not keep exact count I bet I caught and released 20 fish in one nice pool alone.

My friend Tom also was along and he had similar success in any good spots he fished. We used mostly a tandem rig with either a barbless Orange Scud or Pink Squirrel for the lead fly and a barbless Baetis or Hendrickson nymph for the trailer fly. The trailer mayfly nymph caught 85% of the fish but the lead fly was important because it was the attractor. The fish would see it first due to size and color, than take the trailer which better matched the hatch. With the fish feeding so well I never did switch to a dry fly, even though dries are easier to fish I have found over the years in most cases you catch more larger fish on nymphs. I really enjoy fishing dries when the trout are really keyed in on them but I also like the challenge of trying for the more selective larger fish so many times I stay with nymphs if the fish will let me. It was a great day to be on the water and with all the insects hatching the fishing was about as good as it gets.

More Fishing

Last Friday after work I went over to the backwaters of the Mississippi River to do some panfishing from shore. It was a beautiful afternoon with lots of people out. Loon Lake’s President and my business partner Mike finished his work before me so he had a spot all picked out and was catching fish like crazy by the time I got there. His first comment was the fishing is fast but the Bluegills are running small, I have not kept any for supper yet. Well you know how it goes, my second fish is a nice keeper and we get our bucket started. In the next hour and a half we managed to get a dozen nice keepers, we saw some monster Northern Pike cruising the shallows and we really enjoyed the couple hours we got to share outside of work for a change. Mike and I have close friends since way before we started Loon Lake but lately it seems all we have done is either work together or talk business so it was nice to leave work at work and get a bit of time to enjoy some fishing. It made for a great start to my weekend! After Mike took the bucket of fish and headed home to clean them for diner I stayed and fished for a bit longer thinking I would maybe get a few for my dinner as well. Again just like it seems to always go the fishing stayed fast but the keepers disappeared. I also got some new company in the form of a young man about 13 or 14 who decided it was ok to fish right next to me, right where Mike had been a couple minutes before. Before long he was fishing almost in my hip pocket and he still was not catching a thing. He was now so close I could not cast so I asked him what he was using and he swung the business end of his rod over to me check. Problem found, he had on too large a hook was using to large a bait and was fishing to shallow. We adjusted his bobber depth, tied on a smaller hook and threaded a garden worm on. I had him move to my left so his bobber and bait would drift into a good spot and on his first cast he got an almost keeper Bluegill. Talk about excited he said it was his first Bluegill. Well that got his younger brother Gab, age 7, to come over and for the next hour Gab wanted to be the one to release every fish we caught. Besides the three keepers he took down and put in his Dad’s bucket Gab enjoyed releasing the fish so much he did not even want to fish himself. He stated releasing them was just as much fun. Well when I left I stopped by to say hello to their Dad and left them the rest of my worms as he was almost out, seeing those little guys smiles was a great way to end my short but sweet afternoon of fishing.

Speaking of fishing, the river water level is coming down, we are looking at a few days this week in the 60’s and I am going to guess the Walleye and Sauger bite should once again pick up. It is a good time to get the boat out if you have not already done so.

Eagles
Make sure you check out the Eagle Nest link, the chicks are now hatched and the parents are busy feeding and taking care of their new arrivals. If you look right now you will see they have a ground squirrel laying on the edge of the nest that they are using to feed their young with.

www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/index.html

Speaking of eagles on the way back from lunch yesterday I noticed this eagle sitting in a tree in the public park near the boat harbor. While it was from quite a distance from me I was able to get a quick picture before it took off. Not too many places in the lower 48 where you can find eagles sitting around right in town.

Black Squirrels

Besides eagles Wabasha is home to quite a number of black or melanistic squirrels. Beside getting a picture of the eagle in town I a got a couple quick pictures of this guy checking out a bird feeder and than taking off across the yard when he found a walnut. If you look close you can see he is looking pretty bad due to losing his winter coat. Just like the birds with the arrival of spring the squirrels are changing into their summer best.

Last for today I want to thank everyone for visiting our blog, please email me if you have any suggestions of what you would like to see on the blog of if there is anything you would like to know about Loon Lake Decoy Company or Wabasha.

Gary
garys@lakes.com

What a nice day!

2009-04-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 10, 2009

What a nice day!
What a nice day we are having today weather wise. They say we are going to reach the mid to upper 50’s with light winds, guess a guy is going to have to get the fishing rod out after work.

Happy Easter
We will be closing today at noon so our staff can be with their families and attend Good Friday services. We will reopen with our normal shop hours of 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM next Monday April 13th. All of us at Loon Lake wish you a safe and happy Easter.

Goldfinches
The Goldfinch males have really started to molt to their summer feathers the last few days. You can see it the picture below though he is in the shade that their brilliant yellow colors that give them their name are soon to be back for the summer. This guys was at my feeder just a few minutes ago and if you look close at his head you can see that a couple of his dull winter feathers are about to fall out.

Mother’s Day
Speaking of Mothers Day make sure you check out our Backyard Songbird collection, they make great gifts for any mother, grandmother or wife who enjoys nature. Priced so even a couple of the kids can get one for Mom we have a dozen different species/models to choose from.

New Links
I have added some new interesting links about the Wabasha area on the left side of page so make sure you check them out.

Thanks everyone for visiting our Blog and to all our loyal customers, we appreciate your visits and business. Again we wish you safe traveling this Easter weekend, enjoy your time with your family they are what matters most in life.

Gary
garys@lakes.com

Good Afternoon

2009-04-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Sorry for the delay in updating our blog, we have had two good sales days that have kept me busy working with dealers and away from the blog.

Well we got lucky this past weekend and the monster snow storm that was forecast never materialized. That will help all the wildlife in the area after a hard winter.

Regarding wildlife, there are currently thousands and thousands of waterfowl on Big Lake which is on the Mississippi River right across from Wabasha. I have seen Tundra Swans, Canvasbacks, Gadwall, Hooded Mergansers, Northern Shovelers, Blue-winged Teal, Mallards, Widgeon, Green-winged Teal, Wood Ducks, Common Mergansers, Canada Geese, Bluebills, Ring-necks, Pintails, Redheads and Horned Grebes in the last few days. If you love waterfowl this is an awesome time to be on the river with a spotting scope or binoculars.

The first Brown-headed Cowbird this spring has just now landed on the feeder outside my office window. While not my favorite bird because they lay their eggs in other songbird nests, letting the other birds raise their young for them, it is another certain sign that spring is here. As far as songbirds, I am seeing lots of House Finches, Goldfinches, Chipping Sparrows, Redwing Blackbirds, Mourning Doves and a few Redpolls, Cardinals and Bluebirds around the shop right now. I wonder how long before the first Hummingbirds show up?

Remember to check out the live nesting Eagle feed, the estimated hatch day is TODAY April 8th. It is going to be fun to see if the prediction comes true, once the chicks hatch the parents should be real busy feeding them, should make for some interesting viewing. One word about the site is they have slowed the streaming camera down due to so much internet traffic, just click refresh to get an updated image until they get a new streaming media solution. You will notice the adults are standing up turning the eggs more as they get close to hatching.

http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/index.html

By the way if you are in the Wabasha area please stop by the Loon Lake Decoy Company Factory Outlet Store. We are adding several new items to the Bargain Corner today so stop by and enjoy some great savings on our quality sculptures!

Regarding the store we also received a new original Whitetail Deer carving from Ben Manor yesterday. This beautiful woodcarving of a Whitetail Buck was first seen by Ben in 2001. In 2002 while scouting, Ben found the sheds and later that fall he successfully harvested this almost 170 class buck. Make sure you click on the link below in the picture to see the entire carving and to learn how you can own this one of a kind carving.

We currently have over 60 original carvings in stock for you to choose from, if you enjoy fine original wood carvings you need to make it a point to visit our store where you can see these beautiful works of art first hand. We currently have original woodcarvings available for sale from noted artists/carvers Sam Nottleman, Jerry Eppel, Marv Meyer, Bill Stark and Ben Manor.

Another thing I recently received about our outdoors is this news release from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Now this is what I call a positive economic stimulus plan. Wonder how many jobs are created because of these dollars being funneled into our natural resources?

$740 Million Goes to States for Fish and Wildlife Projects
USFWS Release

Department of the Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar announced more than $740.9 million will be distributed to the fish and wildlife agencies of the 50 states, commonwealths, the District of Columbia, and territories to fund fish and wildlife conservation, boater access to public waters, and hunter and aquatic education. These Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program funds come from excise taxes and import duties on sporting firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, sportfishing equipment, electric outboard motors, and fuel taxes attributable to motorboats and small engines.

“The funds raised under the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs have helped conserve our fish and wildlife resources and provide opportunities for outdoor recreation for more than half a century. These investments, which help create jobs while protecting our nation’s natural treasures, are particularly important in these tough economic times,” Salazar said. “All those who pay into this program — the hunting and fishing industries, boaters, hunters, anglers, and recreational shooters —should take pride in helping to conserve our land and its fish and wildlife and provide benefits to all Americans who cherish the natural world and outdoor recreation.”

The Wildlife Restoration apportionment for 2009 totals nearly $336 million, with more than $64.7 million marked for hunter education and firearm and archery range programs. The Sport Fish Restoration apportionment for 2009 totals more than $404 million.

Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act funding is available to states, commonwealths, and territories through a formula based on land area, including inland waters and the number of paid hunting license holders in each state, commonwealth, and territory. State, commonwealth, and territorial fish and wildlife agencies use the money to manage wildlife populations, conduct habitat research, acquire wildlife lands
and public access, carry out surveys and inventories, administer hunter education, and construct and maintain shooting ranges.

“State fish and wildlife agencies are proud to be funded by the hunting, fishing and boating community through this American system of conservation funding, which has been a successful model for many years,” said Rex Amack, President of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Director of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. “This year’s record Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration apportionment is vital
in order for state agencies to continue their work to sustain healthy fish and wildlife populations and provide opportunities for all to connect with nature.”

Sport Fish Restoration is funded by the collection of excise taxes and import duties on sport fishing equipment, motorboat and small engine fuels, and pleasure boats. Sport Fish Restoration funds are apportioned to the states based on a formula that includes the land and water area, inland waters and
the Great Lakes and marine coastal areas where applicable, and the number of paid fishing license holders. States, the District of Columbia, commonwealths, and territories use the funds to pay for stocking fish; acquiring and improving sport fish habitat; providing aquatic resource education opportunities; conducting fisheries research; maintaining public access, and the construction at boat ramps, fishing piers, and other facilities for recreational boating access.

More than 62 percent of Wildlife Restoration funds are used to buy, develop, maintain, and operate wildlife management areas. Since the program began, state, commonwealth, and territorial fish and wildlife agencies have acquired 68 million acres through fee simple, leases, or easements, and operated and maintained more than 390 million acres for hunting since the program began. In addition, agencies certified over 9 million participants in hunter education. “

This source of conservation funding is important not only measured by its dollar amount, but also by legislative safeguards preventing its diversion away from state fish and wildlife agencies,” said Rowan Gould, acting Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “For states working to ensure a future for fish and wildlife—and opportunities for people to enjoy them — precious few programs offer this level of support and reliability.”

Numerous species including the wild turkey, white-tailed deer, pronghorn antelope, American elk, and black bears have increased in population due to improved research and habitat management funded by Wildlife Restoration. In the program’s history, fish and wildlife agencies have assisted more than 9.2 million landowners on fish and wildlife management. States, commonwealth, and territorial fish and wildlife agencies have improved more than 35 million acres of habitat and developed more than 44,000 acres of waterfowl impoundments.

Since the inception of the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act, states, commonwealth, and territorial fish and wildlife agencies have acquired 360,000 acres through fee simple, leases, for easements. They have operated and maintained more than 1.5 million acres annually and they stocked over 6.8 billion fish and restored more than 1.7 billion fish throughout the country; renovated or improved 6,400-boat access sites; and had over 11.9 million participants in the aquatic resource education program.

Well that is it for now, make sure you check in on our Eagle friends and if in the neighborhood stop by and say hello, I look forward to meeting you!

Gary
garys@lakes.com

2009-03-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Hello again from Loon Lake, hope you had a nice weekend.

Saturday I spent setting up our local Trout Unlimited Banquet. The banquet was Saturday night and we had an excellent turnout and time. The numbers are not in as far as how much we raised but I do know we had almost 50 more people this year versus last and they were spending money. If the economy is bad you would not have guessed it by the people who came out to support our banquet or by our sales here at Loon Lake Monday and today. We had a number of our dealers call in their spring orders and in talking with them they seemed excited to be getting ready for the first spring and early summer sales. Guess it goes to show you that you can’t believe all the negative stuff some of the press constantly tries to feed us.

On Sunday I spent much of the day fly fishing for trout with three buddies, while the weather was not the best, cold and windy the fish were biting and we all managed to catch some nice fish and enjoy the day. I even got to fish an unbelievably nice Bamboo rod by a young rod maker named Donahue. A buddy let we give it try it for a few casts and it is an excellent casting bamboo rod. I even managed to catch a nice Brown Trout on the second cast which got me several cat calls from my friends, what are friends for if not to give you a bad time.

Speaking of nature make sure you check out this cool web site, it a live streaming video of a Bald Eagle pair on their nest. The estimated hatch date is April 8th, 2009. The site also has links to other Eagle, Falcon and Osprey cam links. http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/index.html

As far as the river goes it is now coming up in flow and water temps are dropping with the snow runoff from up north. That has slowed the spring bite down for almost every specie of fish right now, especially Walleyes which had a good bite going for a few days before the water temps dropped. As far as Panfish my sources on the river said last Saturday was real slow with a somewhat better bite on Sunday. Waxies and worms where the bait of choice for Bluegills with very few Crappies and Perch being caught. I was also was told there must be quite a bit of pent up spring fever because there where a lot of people out fishing.

Lastly our hearts and thoughts go out to all the folks in North Dakota and northern Minnesota who are battling the record flood waters in that part of the country. Everyone keep your fingers crossed the dikes hold and life returns to normal as soon as possible. Volunteers have filled and used more than 3 million sand bags so far in just the Fargo-Moorhead area. That is a stifling number to me especially thinking about filling, transporting and placing them on the dikes under terrible freezing outdoor conditions. Then you have to think about once the flood waters recede, where do they go with all of them. At 35 pounds average per bag that is 105 million pounds of sand which will need to be removed from neighborhoods and around homes just in the Fargo-Moorhead area. When you think about the rest of the area the numbers get truly staggering.

That is it for today, make sure you check back again for more updates.

Gary

Looking forward to my day.

2009-03-28T05:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Good Morning,

Well I am off to get started setting up our Trout Unlimited Fundraising Banquet. I always look forward to this since the guys and gals involved are both great volunteers and friends. New this year is that for the first time in 28 years I will not be the main MC for the banquet, I have passed off that torch to the very capable hands Mr. Randy Brock. Randy is the current Hiawatha Chapter of Trout Unlimited’s President, he is also our local television station, KTTC’s meteorologist, and a very dedicated conservationist. While I will be assisting Randy all evening, it is going to feel a lot different looking up to the stage instead of down from it. In any case this is a great deal for our chapter, no one group should always rely on the same leaders and getting new leaders involved is the secret for the long-term growth and health of any volunteer organization. I am really looking forward to tonight’s banquet, we have some unbelievable prizes and with ticket sales up big time I know we will have a successful event that will benefit the cold water resources of SE MN.

I see we are getting quite a few folks voting on their favorite waterfowl specie, that is great. Please let me know what other polls you think would be fun to post.

That is it for now, I have to run and get the banquet signs out of storage and meet with the gang to start setting up. Doors open at 5 PM!

Thanks for visiting our new blog.

2009-03-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

Friday, March 27, 2009

Hello,

Thank you for stopping by to see our new Blog, as many of you know we sent out a new email letting you know about it this morning. I am already getting some nice feed back. Thank you, I appreciate your suggestions regarding content and things you would like to see or find interesting. Please keep sending us those suggestions we look forward to providing you a fun and interesting Blog.

Gary

Thursday March 25th, 2009

2009-03-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hello from Loon Lake.

We had an owners meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss the current carving Sam is working on as well as the many other projects currently in the hopper. After the business meeting was over we went down to the local pizza parlor for a couple slices of pizza and a cold beverage. While talking spring bird watching and fishing Mike had our server take a group shot of the owners. Since many of you have never met all of us I thought it would be fun to post the picture on our blog.

From left to right, Larry Kopischke, Dan McKinley,

Mike Lidgerding, Sam Nottleman, Gary Sobotta,

Guy Jackson and Earl Nottleman.

Check out our new originals from Ben Manor

2009-03-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ben Manor has been carving original wood sculptures for over 31 years. Now retired Ben is devoting himself fulltime to his love of wood carving. Using Basswood as his preferred carving wood Ben greatly enjoys expressing is lifelong love of the outdoors in each of his unique carvings. Each original is hand painted by Ben with acrylic paints. Collected by fans around the country Ben won “Best of Show” at the 1991 Wild Wings Fall Art Festival. Loon Lake Decoy Company is pleased to make Ben’s originals available to you.

Follow Our Weekly Blog Post

2009-03-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our Loon Lake Decoy Company Blog, a fun new way to keep up with what is happening at Loon Lake Decoy Company. Our new Blog will be a great way to stay in touch regarding, new products, trade shows we are attending, end of edition announcements, fishing, hunting and nature reports and anything else about us or the area around Wabasha Minnesota.

In our first posting we will cover our new Strutting Wild Turkey sculpture, we will give a spring waterfowl migration report from Wabasha and we will update you on ice conditions in the Mississippi Backwaters.

Our new Strutting Wild Turkey sculpture is now available. This wonderful carving by our master carver Sam Nottleman portrays an adult Tom Wild Turkey in full strut during his annual spring courtship ritual. Complete with a habitat base which includes another rite of spring the first Morel Mushrooms emerging, this stunning sculpture features magnificent hand painting which is guaranteed to please any sculpture collector, outdoorsmen or outdoorswomen. If you enjoy the thrill of the Wild Turkey’s spring gobbling and strutting displays you will love this sculpture.

http://www.loonlakedecoycompany.com/shop/7/product/5916,523

Measuring 10” long by 9.5” wide and 13” high this is the perfect gift for any person who enjoys the Wild Turkey and thundering gobble.

Waterfowl Migration Report
If you enjoy watching waterfowl as they migrate north in their formal courtship colors keep an eye on our Blog for we will be making regular posts regarding what we are seeing on the main channel and backwaters of the Mississippi River in SE Minnesota.

3-20-09 For our first report we would like to let you know just 15 minutes south of Wabasha near the Whitman Dam the first of the years large flocks of Bluebills and Canvasbacks are staging on the main channel. While we have not heard any official numbers it appears there are well over 5,000 birds in this first push. We have also seen the first Robins returning to their urban backyard haunts. If visiting the river also keep an eye out for nesting Bald Eagles, we have several nests in our area with the adult birds tending to their eggs.

3-20-09 Fishing Report
Unfortunately if you are an ice fisherman I have bad news for our first spring backwaters ice report. This past week has been very warm and most backwater ice is already in an unsafe condition. Unless we get some more cold weather in the next few days I am afraid our spring hard water bite is over and we will have to wait for the first soft water bite. That is too bad because the last few weeks the hard water bite in the backwaters has been mixed and we who enjoy ice fishing had been waiting patiently for the action to heat up for Bluegills, Crappies and Perch. That said I guess it is time to change the line on our reels, organize our tackle boxes and get ready for the soft water season. As far as the early season catch and release trout season the action has been real slow. The cold runoff water cooling and dirtying the area streams has slowed the bite considerably. Before the runoff fishing had been pretty good with small black stoneflies, scuds and baetis the most popular fly patterns.

If you would like to contact me personally please email me at garys@lakes.com.

Regards,
Gary

Gary Sobotta
Vice President
Loon Lake Decoy Company, Inc
170 Industrial Court
Wabasha, MN 55981
(800) 555-2696
(651) 565-2696
http://www.loonlakedecoycompany.com/
loonlake@loonlakedecoycompany.com