Catching Fish at Summer Camp...and lots of them!

One of Camp Anokijig's most-popular activities is fishing and Little Elkhart Lake is perfect setting for doing just that.  Kids can start out small, catching pan fish and work their way up to reeling in large mouth bass the size of their thigh (or so our fish stories usually go).  Anokijig campers actually do quite well at not just fishing, but catching and our wonderful staff is there to help them every step of the way.

Some of our campers are really avid fishermen and prefer an even more involved fishing experience.  For those campers, we offer our Fishing Expedition programs.  These campers will do night fishing for bass, northern and pan fish, as well as learn how to fly fish.  Their fly-fishing skills will be put to the test when we take them to one of our area trout ponds and weather-permitting, we'll cap the week off with a chartered fishing trip on Lake Michigan, to catch the really big ones and those fish really are as big as their thighs!

It is easy to talk about all the fish your child can catch during a week at Anokijig, but is the fishing really that good?  Watch this video and decide for yourself-

Sign up for Summer Camp & Save Money!

The first day of summer camp is less than five months away and while that may seem like a long way off, it will be here before we know it. We understand many families like to plan their schedules early in the year, so we make every effort to open up our summer registration as soon as possible.

Even with months of time to prepare, we always seem to end up with kids on waiting lists, who miss out on our most-popular weeks, because they didn't sign up in time. We don't want your child to be left out of all the fun and excitement that comes with being an Anokijig camper, so we're doing our part to encourage parents to make sure their child doesn't get left out this summer.

Parents who sign their children up for summer camp at Anokijig before May 1, 2011 will receive a discounted rate of $540 per week. After May 1st, a week at Anokijig will cost our regular fee of $565. We know there is still plenty of time, but please don't wait too long because space is limited. Click on this link to sign your child up today!

Irish Dance Coming to Anokijig!

We've all watched the amazing technique of Irish dancers flying through jigs and reels and now Anokijig is bringing Irish Dancing to Camp for the summer of 2011! Speed, precision, and style are all hallmarks of this exciting, traditional style of folk dance. Here is your chance to give it a try!

Irish dance campers will spend their mornings with an experienced Irish dancer, learning basic techniques and skills. The finale will be a demonstration dance at the Friday night campfire. When not dancing, campers can still enjoy all of the great activities of Anokijig's resident camp.

Irish dance camp is open to campers of all ages, but space is limited, so we encourage everyone to sign up early. Irish dance camp will be held during Week Two at Anokijig, which begins on June 19th and ends on June 25th. We hope to see you there!

Yoga Camp is Coming to Anokijig!

Yoga Camp is coming to Anokijig in the summer of 2011! Yoga is a great way to create balance in the body through strength and flexibility, by integrating breath, movement and body awareness. This is all accompanied by great music and lots of heart and humor. Participants will challenge themselves and build confidence and self-esteem through a fun, energetic experience.

Yoga will be taught by an experienced, registered Yoga Teacher. Yoga Camp will provide an opportunity for kids to explore the common thread of breath, body & spirit, in a happy, healthy environment. When not practicing Yoga, campers can still enjoy all of the great recreational activities of Resident Camp. Yoga Camp will take place during Week 5 at Anokijig, which is July 10th to the 16th and it is open to all ages.

Registration is now open for Summer Camp 2011!

Registration for Camp Anokijig's 2011 Summer Camp sessions is now open. We say it every year, but it seems as if we can never say it often enough- Once registration opens, it is never too early to sign up! Many of our sessions sell out and dozens of kids end up on a waiting list, missing out on the time of their lives.

A week at Anokijig just happens to make a fantastic Christmas present too! You can sign up at this link and please be sure to let your friends and family know that registration is now open. We look forward to seeing you at Anokijig in 2011!

A Problem Every Wisconsin Summer Camp Would Like To Have

As week four of Anokijig's summer camping season draws to a close, we're faced with a familiar dilemma for weeks five through eight- we're sold out! No matter how many times we encourage parents to register early on the Anokijig Insider or our Facebook page, we always seem to run into this same situation.

Kids come to Anokijig in the early weeks and have a blast. They end up wanting to return for another week later in the summer and those campers, combined with late registrations fill up the latter portion of our camping season, leaving hundreds of campers on waiting lists.

We do still have room in Week nine, which runs from August 8th to the 14th, but outside of that week, we're packed solid. If you weren't able to send your child to Anokijig this summer or weren't able to send them back for another week, there's still an opportunity to join us on one of our three remaining family camping weekends. These weekends are tremendous values have become an annual tradition for many of our families. For more information on our family camping weekends, please visit this link- http://www.anokijig.com/10family.htm

2010 Registration is Open!

Did you know registration for Camp Anokijig's 2010 summer sessions are now open? Families have been requesting earlier registration dates for several years now and we've tried to accomodate them, by opening registration sooner in each of the past few years and this is our earliest registration opening ever!

Early registration allows parents (and grandparents) to make a week at Anokijig a special Christmas gift for their child (or grandchild) and families can begin to figure out their summer calendar and plan for other trips, knowing when their kids will be at Anokijig. Early registration will also be helpful for many of our campers who visit us from abroad, allowing them extra time to plan their trips and find the best airfare.

Several of our weeks sell out every summer, so while you may not feel the need to register this early, please keep in mind that because we are opening registration earlier for 2010, they may fill up sooner than they have in past years. If you'd like to register online today, just follow this link- http://anokijig.com/forms.htm

We look forward to seeing you in 2010!

Labor Day Family Camping

Its Sunday afternoon and we're in the midst of another fantastic Labor Day Family Camping Weekend. Beach tunes are playing over the PA system and many of the 230+ family campers have found their way down to the waterfront area for the same beach party fun that our campers enjoy every week during summer camp. Little Elkhart is still as warm as a bathtub and volleyball games and face-painting are camper favorites.

These family weekends are a great (and affordable) opportunity for families to connect, reunite and unplug from their everyday lives. Best of all, we still have one family camping weekend to go this year and there's still time to sign up, although space is limited.

Camp Anokijig's Fall Colors camping weekend is October 9th to the 11th. Campers begin arriving Friday night and are treated to three delicious meals on Saturday and two more on Sunday. There are also plenty of special activities that are unique to Fall Colors weekend, like our annual pumpkin-carving contest. If you'd like more information on Fall Colors Family camping, call Camp Anokijig today at 920-893-0782.

We hope to see you at Anokijig soon!

Bring the Whole Family To Camp Anokijig!

Camp Anokijig's 2009 Summer Camping Season has ended, but Anokijig's 2009 Camping Season is far from over! If your child is still raving about their experience at Anokijig this summer and begging for more, there are still plenty of chances to come back in 2009.

Camp Anokijig is offering several family camping weekends this year and there's still space available in all of them. Family Camping weekends allows families to do all the fun stuff that the Anokijig summer campers did all summer long, from horseback riding to archery and all the cool boats at the waterfront. There are also some special family activities on these weekends that are not available during summer camp, like pumpkin carving contests and hayrides.

Our August Getaway Weekend runs from the evening of the 28th through the 30th and we have a couple of rooms available in the Health Lodge, one of the Thunderbird bunkhouses and several tents left. Our Labor Day weekend is nearly full, with only one room (two people) available in the Health Lodge and Fall Colors is also close to being full with only platform tents remaining.

These weekends are all great opportunities for families to enjoy Anokijig together, without the hassles of packing up a tent and cooking meals over an open fire. Your accomodations will be waiting for you and all your meals are included. Best of all, the price is more affordable than you might realize.

An average family of four can enjoy our Fall Colors weekend for about $325, which includes two nights stay, five all-you-can-eat meals in Western Lodge and unlimited access to all of our program areas (horseback rides and some arts & crafts projects do have additional fees). As always, children under four years of age are always free on all of our family weekends.

If you would like more information on our Family Weekends, please visit this link- http://anokijig.com/09family.htm

Don't delay though, because space is limited and it's filling up fast!

When we posted a video from our Fishing Expedition Program a few weeks back, we thought some folks might suspect the fish caught in that video was the exception and not the rule. We decided to post a second video (above), to put to rest any question as to whether campers in our Fishing Expedition Programs do reel in the big ones.

We could continue posting such videos, which each subsequent trip (and we might), but nothing quite speaks for the success of this program as testimonials from our own campers. Shortly after we posted this second video, a camper posted a comment, claiming he caught a 23-lb. salmon on the trip last week.

If your child enjoys fishing, they would absolutely love our fishing programs. Unfortunately, our 2009 Fishing Expedition Programs are finished for the season. However, we do still have space in our Sylvania Backcountry Canoe Fishing Trip during Week 9.

Campers on this trip will go after smallmouth bass and northern pike in the Sylvania Wilderness Area, as well as fishing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We will provide the canoes, gear and all the equipment needed, Mother Nature will provide the fish. If your child is entering 7th grade this fall and would like to experience some amazing fishing, you can register here- http://anokijig.com/2009%20web%20registration%20form.aspx

If your child is already signed up to come to Camp Anokijig during week 9 and would like to go on the Sylvania Backcountry Canoe Fishing Trip, just call the camp office at 1-800-741-6931 to reserve a spot.

Camp Anokijig's Fishing Expedition Program

Someone once said, "The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." As you can see from this video, Camp Anokijig's Fishing Expedition Program tends to make his pursuit more attainable than most of us are accustomed to experiencing.

When campers come to Anokijig to fish, we make sure they not only catch some fish and have a good time, but learn a little bit about fishing and themselves. Camp Anokijig's Fishing Expedition Program covers everything from cane poles with bobbers to fly reels and salmon fishing on Lake Michigan.

We offer Fishing Expedition as a specialty program during several of our summer camp weeks, for just an additional $80 over their resident camping fees. Most Lake Michigan charter boats won't even start their engines for that price, but campers in our Expedition Fishing Program will have all their bait, boats and equipment supplied, including a chartered fishing excursion on Lake Michigan (weather permitting).

While many of the campers in this program have some previous fishing experience, almost everyone learns something new or experiences fishing in a way they never had before. This program is also designed to accomodate the first-time angler, so if your son or daughter would like to give fishing a try, this might be the perfect introduction for them.

We have already successfully completed three weeks of Fishing Expedition and the campers in this program have really enjoyed themselves. Next week is our final Fishing Expedition program for 2009, so if your child is signed up for Resident Camp and would like to experience an exciting week of fishing, give us a call at 1-800-741-6931 today!

Are Anokijig's Family Camps Too Good To Be True?

Last night, Milwaukee's TMJ4 did a feature on affordable family vacations, highlighting Camp Anokijig's family weekend camps. In case you missed it, you can see all of it here- http://www.todaystmj4.com/features/onyourside/45781887.html

In the story, they claimed a family of four could enjoy a weekend at Anokijig for about $325. Is that accurate or is it too good to be true? The truth is, a family of four can enjoy a weekend at Anokijig for even less than that and that includes all of your meals!

Rates for our Fall Colors weekend start at just $84 for campers 13 & older, $79 for campers 4-12 years old and campers under 3 years old are always free. Program Director, Darin Holden, describes Anokijig family camps as "a rustic camping version of an all-inclusive resort." All meals are served buffet-style in beautiful Western Lodge and campers are always welcome to come back for seconds (and even thirds).

There are no fees of any kind for our waterfront area, so campers don't have to worry about getting a sailboat or paddleboat back within an hour or risk incurring additional charges. Our archery and pellet gun range are also free of charge and if kids want to spend all afternoon shooting at targets, they're more than welcome to do so.

Our arts & crafts area does charge nominal fees to cover the cost of the supplies of some crafts, but a family of four can spend hours painting in the arts & crafts building, without spending a dime. Our horse rides also have nominal fees attached to them, but Anokijig's private trail system is second to none in the area and our rates (like everything else at Anokijig) are very reasonable.

For more information on our family camping weekends, please visit our website- http://anokijig.com/09family.htm

If you're not sure about committing to an entire weekend, come on up for the day and check us out! Our Taste of the Outdoors Country Breakfast & Family Fun Day is coming up May 30th & 31st. It's an all-you-can-eat extravaganza and all the program areas will be open as well. You can get all the information you need on Anokijig's Taste of the Outdoors here- http://anokijig.com/Country%20Breakfast%20flyer%2009.pdf

Thank you TMJ4 for visiting us and we hope to see you all soon!