Lake Minnetonka Real Estate » Lake Minnetonka Islands » Bug Island

Bug Island on Lake Minnetonka

Bug Island lies in Carsons Bay, southeast of Lighthouse Island and off the Deephaven shore. It is a small island with a history tied to sailing in more than one season.

Tatu, Tattoo and Bug

Tatu Island is an older name preserved by the Deephaven Historical Society; later accounts also use Tattoo Island. Those names refer to the island now called Bug. The origin of the present name remains uncertain.

Later histories describe it as an island made from dredged material, paired with Lighthouse Island in work associated with the Hotel St. Louis area. An original dredging record would help settle the precise construction history.

Sailing on ice

In 1900, Theodore Wetmore donated a clubhouse here for the Ice Yacht Club. Ice sailing was a natural winter counterpart to the summer fleet: long runners in place of a hull in the water, and the same wind carrying a boat across the bay.

The island remains associated with organized sailing and mooring use. It should not be described as a public park or a residential neighborhood. For nearby homes, Bug Island belongs to the sailing landscape of Carsons Bay, where the shore and the boats have long been part of one another's story.

To discuss homes in this part of Lake Minnetonka, contact Daniel and Elisha Gustafson.