McGregor, MN

When the Real Estate Market slows down in the winter time it is time for me to get out and take a few days to enjoy what Big Sandy has to offer. I invited our boys up from Blaine Minnesota and we spent the day after Christmas on the lake with a good friend of mine. Tom Peterson allowed us to spend some time in one of his Ice Fishing Houses located out on Bell Horn Bay.

WWW.BellHornBayFishHouses.com Tom Peterson below and one of his houses.

After a great breakfast at the house the boys and myself headed out to the lake we arrived about 11:am at Tom's house and we were greeted by his dog who was just a wagging her tail as fast as she could. Tom was quick to greet us and helped to load up our equipment and we were off to the lake.

I/we do not get to spend much time with the boys as we all have busy and productive lives and being 120 miles apart does not help out the situation either, On this day though we spent many hours re-capping old stories and laughing until we cried. I really wanted to thank Tom for the House rental and to especially thank Matthew and Jamie for spending the day on the lake with Dad.

If you are looking at buying a cabin on Big Sandy Lake and are not sure untilo you fish it a few times I would really reccomend using Bell Horn Bay Fish Houses and check out the area. If you want to see the Gill Report for Big Sandy Lake go to my site and check it out.

http://www.bigsandylake.com/gill-net-report-2005.asp This link will give you direct access to the most current up to date Gill Net Report.

This is Jamie holding up a crappie that he caught! Matthew is on the left. Shortly after that Tom comes over and gives us some Venison sausage that he pre-pared out on the ice. It was Awesome.

WWW.BIGSANDYLAKE.COM

My wife Leane and I have been married for many years our children are grown up and we are expecting our first grandchild this January 15Th. So when I have a chance to take my niece fishing I jump on the opportunity as quick as I can, you see Analese lives out in Ohio and we live in Minnesota on Big Sandy lake. Last year while visiting us Analese wanted to fish so I took her and my nephew down to the dock and we fished for hours and only caught a few little ones, little did I know that this day my niece got the fishing bug bad!! Analese has been asking for one year now to come back to uncle Rick's and aunt Leanes to go fishing and of course to visit :) This year when they arrived for a family reunion she started asking right away about going fishing with uncle Rick the weather was bad with rain and wind but it came down to the last day and we went rain or shine.

Analese is 6 years old in fact her birthday was just a few days prior to this day, she loves to fish and for the first hour we did not catch a thing. The cold windy day I could see was starting to get to her and yet Analese still wanted to catch a fish.

Analese finally caught a fish and then it was GAME ON she ended up catching about 30 or so we lost count she had such a good time and I was just in heaven I thought what a great day and what an Awesome experience for my niece and I to share these memories together forever. I am not sure if I thanked Analese for this day as she was so excited to be out on the dock or as she referred to it as the bridge.

This was by far the largest we caught this afternoon and we got a few at the 7-8.5" mark so it was a great day out.

Analese started finally getting cold enough were she wanted to go back up to the cabin as the sun was going down and the cold really started to get to her. I want to thank you Analese for the day you spent with me, I wish I could bottle up all the fun we had and open it whenever I wanted. I am not able to do that so I have you on my blog sweet heart. I love you Analese, Uncle Rick

As I loaded up my truck and had Analese buckled up in her seat this is the last thing I saw as I looked back at the dock on Big Sandy Lake.

Just last week before I was to go out with a bunch of friends shooting some trap in the morning and off to a golf tournament in the afternoon I was letting our dogs out for the morning duties and saw the making of a spectacular sunrise over Bell horn Bay where my wife Leane and I live. I was absolutely delighted at what took place this morning.

Over the next few minutes it just kept changing and it got better and better each moment I sat out on my beach watching this beautiful sunrise happen.

The sun has not even peaked over the horizon as of yet it was still far below the tree line across the bay but you could see it was really putting on a show. You are not able to see as of yet that the morning was a real foggy one as the water temperature is allot warmer than the outside temperature this morning thus creating a really cool fog.

Living in McGregor on Big Sandy Lake is awesome and I truly love my neighborhood, the one thing you cannot see is after taking this photo I heard a fishing boat and then I did not. He had stopped as I did to take a moment to catch this awesome event that I believe we all take for granted. The beginning of another day, a new chance to make a difference in this world, another day to take a child fishing. It's days like this that happen that we miss and will not ever get back, this is why I share this day with you so you have time to reflect on what is important to you Even though for just a moment, please do!!

Please take a momment and imagine the soulful call of a loon looking for it's mate or as I did this particlar morning a flock of Canada geese flew over the top of me and again you just have to appreciate all the natural beauty that surrounds us on a daily basis.

I went on this day to meet up for breakfast with my friends and during breakfast I asked them all if they had a chance to see the sunrise today?

Silly me, they all said who was up to see that any way. Now you know the rest of the story don't you?

I hope you all enjoy the sunrise today and all that you may encounter in the future! You just never know when the good lord calls.

www.BigSandyLake.com

One of my most favorite times of the year is fall and this year is no different, I made a promise to many of you that I would share my area photos with everyone and this past week has just been spectacular for the colors.

All of these photos have been taken from my neighborhhod and infact all from the same road 202nd place aka pondarosa point.

My wife Leane and I got home about the same time the other night and the sun was barely out and I said to her I was going out to grab a few shots down the road and I would be back in a little while. So I was off driving down the road at 25mph and then it started I did not even make it 3 houses down and saw this tree.

After taking many different angles of this tree I thought to myself, man if I do not even get another shot all year this one is awesome. I was pleased with this tree and the memories I will have for a long while to come.

So once again I was off and running, I was driving down the road taking in the sights and I noticed over the lake a rainbow was just starting to form, I parked the car and worked my way down between the yards and got down to the lake and saw this one. I wish the rain bow was a little more noticeable but if you look you should be able to see it in the center of the picture.

By now I am really excited about this trip I was on and thought how could it get any better. I looked down and right at my feet this natural display of beauty was looking up at me. You can see the rain drops still being held by one of the leaves from this day.

Silent reflections of my afternoon out around Big Sandy Lake ~ It reminds me of why we first bought a lake place so many years ago. During this photo as I was setting up a Loon was just 80 feet or so from me. I must share with you the soulful call of a Loon is incredible it gave me the chills.

Big Sandy Lake is watched during the summer months by the DNR and they do it from the fire tower. I am standing at the top of the fire tower for this shot and overlooking Big Sandy Lake. Big Sandy Lake and all of it's waterways is just over 10,000 acres of navigable waters. It has 23 Islands and the deepest part of the lake is just in front of you in this photo 84 feet deep.

Real Estate on Big Sandy lake goes from the low 200's to over 2 million for a 12 acre estate, we have new construction town homes on Big Sandy as well as new single family homes.

www.BigSandyLake.com

With the onset of fall in full swing I wanted to capture the colors for you all as I go to and from my appointments in the next 3 weeks! I hope to bring you some of what I believe to be what Big Sandy Lake and the McGregor Lakes area is all about.

One of my most favorate places to take pictures from is the firetower off of county road 14 or lake ave, it overlooks Bell Horn bay and Webster bay. I also love the road called Ponderosa point or 202nd place.

I am looking forward to today going out once again to capture some of the fall scenes and colors.

Rick Borden ~ www.BigSandyLake.com McGregor Minnesota 55760 ~ Big Sandy Lake