We are now 5 days into our close down, which will end on the 30th of the month. Already Pat and the boys have taken the Lund fleet out of the water and they are securely stored for the winter. Denis has been boarding up windows and screened-in porches. Lorraine and Monique have already closed down the Bait & Tackle, the Northstar, and several of the guest cabins. All the while, Leo is still hard at work on our new dock… or should I say pier (newsletter item to follow on this in the next week)! Things are going along very well. Last night, we went fishing and had a great shoresupper of butter-fried walleye and grilled New York Strips (courtesy of Leo!). The moon was shining brightly on a crisp and clear September night.

A s we get the chance to reflect back on our season, we can’t help but smile at the thousands of great memories that we have from the 2007 season. It already seems like May is a distant memory, but it wasn’t that long ago that we first stepped off the plane with the prospects of a new season ahead of us. The new office (aka the Ursa Major), was only a shell… but by the end of June it would become the new nerve center of the camp. It seemed like only yesterday that we greeted the first three groups of the season on May 26th (Ingerson, Chism, Gillispie), along with a throng of new staff members with huge smiles and hugs. It seemed like only yesterday that we were hauling in monster fish… 42″ laker, 31″ walleye, and the new lake record 49″ pike! It seems like only yesterday Big Molly’s Bar was a bustling meccha of tall tales and hearty laughter. The season certainly got behind us in a hurry, but as we think back on it we accomplished more than we thought possible coming in to 2007. We had a lot of people come off the planes this year!

We would like to thank our staff for their hard work both in helping out our guests and in helping us continue our vision for the lodge through construction. We have just completed a rigorous three-year overhaul which has brought a new attitude, functionality, and a higher level of comfort to our lodge. Our boats and accommodations now rank at or near the top in the industry. Our service, which was never in question, remains the best you will find anywhere. It may sound cliche, but when you read our customer testimonials you will know it’s true. Our young and vibrant staff is truly special. They are a fun bunch to hang out with, but even more rewarding is to watch them mature and get their careers off the ground once their Aikens years are over. They will use Aikens as a springboard into careers as accountants, nurses, teachers, businessmen and women, computer geniuses, chiropractors, tradesmen, and much more. Thank you so much for making Aikens the special place it is!

However, it always comes down to our wonderful guests… and in most cases our friends. On behalf of the Turennes, our partners at Aviary Group, and all of the wonderful people in the “Aikens Family”, Thank you so much for choosing Aikens Lake as your fishing destination of choice year in and year out. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to earn our living doing what we do in such a spectacular and pristine setting. We truly are a blessed bunch, and we love nothing more than to share the incredible bounties of Aikens Lake with you. Have a great winter season and we will be in touch to set up more “Aikens Experiences” for you, your family, your friends, and your businesses in 2008 and in the future. Our prospects are shining very brightly, so you know we aren’t going anywhere! We’ll be there to answer the phone whenever you want to plan your next “Aikens Experience”! Have a great offseason.

note: Keep checking in as we will continue to update the newsletter throughout the winter months… albeit with less frequency.

What a way to end our season!  NECA (Minneapolis Chapter) is a large group of 24+ electrical contractors and they have their annual conference up at Aikens.  Last year was their first visit to Aikens as a group, and they had decided that Aikens would be their destination for 2007 even before they left last year!  The group really enjoys the camaraderie with the staff, the vibrant night life in Big Molly’s Bar, and the spectacular walleye fishing.

This year’s trip featured some very cold weather!  Despite temps that were in the 30’s, the group braved it out on the lake and were rewarded for their efforts.  There were many trophies and slot walleyes caught.  Everybody really liked the new shorelunch setup at GGO, especially because you could get a huge fire roaring for everyone to warm up!  Several impromptu joke sessions had the group in stitches, and a few contract guides… namely Marquis and Marcel… were right in there making people keel over in laughter!

Every year, the group gives out the “Hairy Lure” award.  It all started off 9 years ago when NECA wanted to recognize an important person in their group in a sort-of lifetime achievement celebration.  The Hairy Lure started off as a piece of driftwood  that had a lock of hair from one of the girls at the lodge.  Since then, the award has taken a much more personal meaning… it is decorated with all kinds of important aspects in a person’s life.  The presentation is also worth the price of admission!  Bart Baker is the presenter, and he finds the wackiest outfits in which to make his speeches.  This year, he was decked out in a 70’s style movie star costume.  Just seeing him enter the room was enough to get everyone laughing!    This year, Doug Olson won the award.   He said that he didn’t expect to win it, and he was a very proud recipient!

Aikens decided to present its own award, a take-off from the Hairy Lure, and we named it the Furry Fish!  We actually had this furry fish mount that had been hanging up in the B&T for years!  We awarded it to a man who went toe-to-toe with Marquis in a battle of wits and lived to tell the story.  We awarded it to a man that was constantly the life of the party, and a guy who made everyone laugh out loud.  The winner of the first ever Furry Fish award was Bart Baker!  We can’t wait to see who will win it again next year.

As part of the final projects of the season, Chuck put together an outstanding play structure for the kids. Chuck had built some play structures in the past for his grandchildren, and he took great pride in building one for Annika and Marty at Aikens. In fact, he had been planning and plotting all of the aspects of this project since early in the spring!

Contained within a large fenced-in yard, the new play structure has become one of little Annika’s favorite places to hang out! This place has it all… there are 4 assorted swings, monkey bars, climbing rope, climbing ladder, sandbox with digging chair, a slide, rock climbing wall, and even a pirate-ship steering wheel!!! We also moved the trampoline inside the yard so that everything would be localized into an area where we wouldn’t have to worry about the kids running to the water. With all these great toys, it’s going to be awfully tough to get Annika onto a plane at the end of the season!!! Thank you very much, “Mononcle Chuck”, for providing the kids with such an amazing place to play!!!

You wouldn’t know that Jim Zilverberg would be turning 90 next year if you saw him jogging down your street.  The spry father brought his three boys (Larry, Greg, Patrick) up to Aikens for some quality time together.  Jim was born in 1918 and he brought up his boys out on the lakes in Minnesota.  The family has been fishing together for the last 50 years!  Jim is still sharp in body and in spirit, and relishes the opportunity to show his boys some tricks everytime they are in the boat together.

The Zilverberg’s first “Aikens Experience” has been quite a success.  Despite some very cold weather, at times even fishing in the snow, the fishing has been excellent.  However, it didn’t start off that way on Day 1.  Jim seemed to the be the only one catching fish, and everybody else wondered what he was doing differently.  Jim silently watched as his sons had minimal success but they didn’t try switching jig colors or sizes, and all the while he was reeling them in hand over fist himself.  Finally, after some prodding he let the cat out of the bag and told everyone that he had found that white was the hot color and gave everyone a jig identical to the one he was using.  Disbelieving that a subtlety as minor as jig color could be the trigger, the boys stubbornly accepted the jigs and put them on.  Turns out he was right!  His son Patrick told us that after switching, he must have caught 20 slot walleyes that afternoon!  I guess that even despite 50 years of fishing, there are still quite a few tricks up Jim’s sleeve!  That afternoon, Jim was proud to have been able to find the key for a successful day on the lake.  In the days that followed, Larry and Greg both landed trophy walleyes.  Although the white jig pattern had passed, they were still following dad’s advice and one was caught on a jig and the other on a chartreuse bottom-bouncer.  It goes to show that you are never too old to learn something new, and you are never too young-at-heart to teach your boys about fishing!

Your sister Mary says hi. She wants you to know that she’s loving life right now and is savoring every breath of Aikens air this weekend. She’ll be in touch soon to brag. Mary also says hi to the rest of the Greteman clan, and she’ll send back stories of master anglers soon!