Sunday, September 16, 2007

Last of the Fishermen and Moose Hunting begins.

The last groups of fisherman were on the Cobham and at Loree Lake. The weather was not ideal for most of the week since we had snow and rain for a day and a half. Fishing was great before the weather came in but when it was snowing it was nicer playing poker and stoking the fire than fighting the weather. A good drink and a deck of cards make a good pair on those kind of days. Since then the weather has warmed up and should be 75 once again this week coming. We do not have any hunters out this week, the first week of hunting. I am glad as I have had a few years when it has been this hot an the moose do not move much. Should be good for next week. As one of my hunters from last year would say everyday "we have them right where we want them." Hopefully we will see some big ones coming out.

Loree Lake Kralowitz Party. Keith had a 42 inch northern 50 yards from the dock and had great numbers before the rain and snow came. Jeremy who is 9 years old got all of his homework done so he is hoping to be able to make the trip next year with his dad and his buddies. He had a blast and kept things pretty lively around the camp apparently.

The River Anderson Party. These guys are from Kansas and I figure they knew they were not in Kansas anymore when the snow came. Being Pure Walleye fishermen only neeed to know where the deep water was and they would find the fish. They had over 250 Walleyes their first day of fishing but caught them in around 23 feet of water. The largest being 23 and a half inches. They have fished the Cobham a few times but never that end of the River. As I always say, Fishermen always catch fish. They had a visitor in camp after the snow as well. A Wolf. There was only tracks but he meandered through the camp and made his way down towards the outhouse before walking off in to the bush. I love a fresh snow, you can sure see what has been going on.

We are always telling people that safety is imperative in the north as you are far away from immediate help. A couple of recent fisherman found out how true that statement is this week on the Cobham. Fortunately I was staying at Daniels and had just arrived on the lake with my trusty tool box. They used the satellite phone and Rena told them where I was and just came over in the boat. Good thing it was not too rough because it would not have felt to good with a 9 inch lure hanging from your bottom lip and chin.

One thing everyone may want to put on your list of things to bring is a pair of cutters able to cut a hook. I had to try a couple of different onces to get the right combination. It was pretty funny when it was all said and done but scary in the fact that it could have been way more serious. A nice self portrait.
The Doctor calling Rena to let her know all is Good.
The Culprit looking at the hook.
Tools of the trade.
Post Op relief, and a good laugh.
Cobham Morley done for another year.
We really went hard on the dock work our first day, I went swimming to move some rocks. Glad I did as the weather was good around 60 and sunny, but the weather was about to change significantly.....
The wind went down and the black clouds rolled in. Cooler air had fog coming off the water and the rain turned to Wet snow!! When you are up there you just react to the weather, you have no weather forecast. I was not worried, we had a warm cabin, enough beer, and the plane was safely tied to the dock. What else could you ask for.
Around 7 PM it started to snow fairly heavy...
During the night we had to move the Otter around and pull it up on shore. If you get to much snow on the wings and tail the old girl might sink. I figured I would sleep alot better if it was on some solid ground. This was the scene from Daniels the next morning. The snow continued until 7:30 the next night. Not overly cold just wet and miserable, my helper John and I worked all day in the wet snow, taking breaks to go and dry out a bit. We built a new boat ramp and fixed the dock. We had planned to go to the river to do some work the next day but the weather was to crappy to fly and we had a big chore of removing the snow from the wings.

Here is the new boat ramp at Daniels. Should be easy to use and ramps to walk between each boat will be nice. The snow was almost melted by the time we left.
When the snow stopped it was a beautiful sunset. Not quite cold enough to freeze the water to the cabin.
Next morning we were in camp closing mode once again and Daniels was off the list. West wind blowing and Temperatures were on the rise. It was pretty comfortable by noon. Weather the last few days has warmed right up once again and is going to be 75 degrees or warmer this week. I am heading back up to close Loree and do some more work at some of the other camps. Hopefully we won't get snowed on, in this country we might come back with a SUN BURN.

Until next week...