Arcadia Lodge
Big Turtle Lake – Bigfork, MN
June 18-25, 2023
Hosts: The Jones – Steve, Casey, & Kylie

Stacey, Joshua, and I made our sixth family vacation/fishing trip together to Arcadia Lodge up on Big Turtle Lake. We stayed in the Rustic cabin for the fourth time.

We all had fun participated in creating our own tie dye t-shirts! All of our shirts turned out great. I spent most mornings and evenings fishing alone. Joshua and Stacey spent a few days in the water swimming, diving feet first, paddle boarding, and venturing from one water toy to the next when we had hot days in the 90’s. The lodge made and served fresh donuts on Tuesday. We ended up ordering 2 large bags of donuts and a complementary kid size. Ice cream in the lodge every other day too. Joshua and I played billiards, and Joshua beat me in both games. That kid can play! Our dog Charlie enjoyed stay as well with a couple of swims in the lake and boat rides to highlight his week.

Weather was hot and humid the first three days and cooled off a little bit followed by rain and thunderstorms. We checked out and went home on Friday. Smallmouth action was fantastic! The mayfly hatch was in full bloom and the hot lure was the 1/8 oz. or 1/4 oz. black hair jig tipped with a pinched off 2″ Berkley Gulp Nightcrawler or X Zone Lures Slammer. Jigged and worked slow along the reed edges in 8-10 feet of water caught most of the fish. Fish ranged from 19″, 18″, and several in the 16″ to 17″ sizes. One evening I hooked up with a fish in the 20″ mark that took drag and snapped my line due to my drag being set too tight. I also caught a dogfish too on the Rapala BX Brat. Joshua and Stacey caught a few smallies on a live nightcrawler rigged under a bobber. Other lures that caught fish include the 1/4 oz. Acme V-Rod and twister tail with underspin.

Check video below for the full action!

We really enjoyed our stay, rebooked again for next year before we left. Counting the days until 2024…