A surprise at Jeanette

The last camp was opened yesterday at Jeanette Lake. After taking a walk around and seeing that the snow had ripped off the chimney, everything else was okay and wintered well. As I opened the door, there was a small furry animal laying on the floor by the fridges. It was a pine marten! One of my favorite animals in the bush, a wiley little creature who is vicious and fast. They keep the rodents in check. Definately a good animal to have around, to bad this one came in through the small hole by the chimney, couldn't find his way out and ate a little too much mouse poison. Poor little bugger.



Here are some pictures from Cherrington, Motter Party, long time guests who always do well and this year was no exception. They figure they caught 200 walleyes that were around 4 to 5 pounds, David said this was the best fishing he has had in a very long time. Brian had a 30 inch walleye and there was so many 23-25 inch fish. Needless to say they were very happy and coming back next year.

Still some ice on the big lake pushed up on shore. They thought about fishing for lakers but the walleyes were so big and fun they couldn't get away!


A beautiful night.



An "average walleye"



Shearstone had the Weber Party visit this week. These guys have fished a number of our lakes and had some awesome northen fishing. They said that there was as many 30-35 inch northerns as you wanted to catch and the leader of the group Gary had a Fat 42 inch northern. 5 times when reeling in a walleye, they were attacked by bigger northerns....that is always exciting! Walleyes were pretty concentrated near the rapids due to the cold water but the size got bigger everyday. They are looking forward to next year and maybe another lake.




Even the new guy was allowed to catch some Big fish!

Weather is turning, Big ones turning on!!!

It was a busy weekend with lots of fishermen heading out to the bush and many coming back with big smiles on their faces. Fishing overall was good but the colder weather definitely slowed down the fishing early in the week compared to the sunny weather during the last few days. The northerns are done spawning for the most part and the walleyes are in the process as we speak. Water levels are still high but Vee lake went down quite a bit so the rest of the lakes will follow soon as long as the weather stays decent.

There were some real trophies caught and released this week, many Northerns over 40 inches with a 42 inch on Vee and a 43.5 inch on Cherrington. Here is some of the highlights from this week.

Morleys, Mirick Party, These guys have fun no matter what the weather, good thing too this week. Mark, Andy, Patrick and Mats fished hard but never got over the 40 inch mark. Plenty of 38-39 inch northerns but no "Big" ones this year, They will be back next year to remedy that!

Daniels had fishermen from Montana this week and they had an awesome last day, here are their pictures.....






Those fly rods got a lot of use this week!





Vee Lake had the Johnson party, Our guests for many years, they have seen it all. Barry's 20th year fishing in Canada and he said it was the coldest and windiest yet. Numbers were down from last year,(which was one of their best years) but the quality was great! Cody, Barry's son, was a rookie this year and he had the biggest and smallest fish of the week, a 5 inch perch on a 8 inch Rapalla and a 42 inch northern! They had 12 trophies over 40 inches and 6-8 that were 39 inches. They stated that all the northerns were really thick across the back and heavy, I will put up the pictures when I get them.

Cherrington had the biggest northern of the opening week. A 43.5 inch Monster right at one of the spots I had marked for him on the map! That was caught by Bob C. and his partner Jeff was not disappointed either landing a 40 inch Pike in the same area! Walleyes as usual on Cherrington ran Large! Bob's largest was a 25.5 inch and Jeff had a 25 inch walleye. They even caught some Lake Trout, Jeff had a 30 inch and a 25 inch not too far from the cabin. One was caught almost right on the surface because his hook was caught up on itself and just running the surface and he jerked it to try and straighten it...The trout came right up and took it and straightened it out alright. They almost got stuck out on the big lake one day too as the ice shifted after they were out there.

First fishing report!

The Nethers Party from Ohio just came out of the River today and had a great time! The weather was a little on the cold side at times and it snowed a few times but overall they said the weather was better than they had 2 years ago. It was cold enough at one point that the ice actually built up on the fishing line! But on the other hand it got to be in the 50's most every afternoon and the evenings were great!

It was a beautiful day when they went in a week ago!

Even a little ice still floating around but disappeared after a couple days.

And there was plenty of these around. When the sun was out, the action was furious! The Largest was 45 inches and there were quite a few around the 40 inch mark.





This too is a real treat!

A picturesque evening.



There was a little of this....

But more of this! Weather in the North changes fast in the spring and fall!

The Caretaker at Loree Lake

Loree Lake has someone to watch over the camp each winter.... a cow moose! In the winter, moose favour a south facing shoreline or hill to escape the north wind and enjoy the sun. The cabin location on Loree is perfect and there has been at least one cow living there for as long as I can remember. It looks like she had been in the area within the last couple weeks but will be moving more to her summer feeding grounds north of the cabin near the burn. I hope she attracts a few Big Boyfriends this summer!


She is also good at keeping the brush trimmed, notice the broken tree and short branches.


There is still a few lakes with some ice on them, just the large, deep ones.

Canadian Turkeys

We don't have turkeys in the north but we got some good looking grouse! One half of a happy couple at Vee Lake.



This picture was forwarded to me, I remember talking to a pilot/aviation enthusiast from Europe after a long week of closing camps in less than enjoyable weather. I hope to get to talk to him again one day, he was full of information and stories.

First Round of Camps Open!

We have been busy in the North opening camps for the opening week and Mother Nature made it hard. Bruce and I figure this was the worst weather we have ever had for camp opening. We have a good crew this year, willing to work, and get the job done. They are Josh, Josh, and Cristian. All pilots looking to gain experience in aviation, by the end of the summer they will gain much more than that.

The weather had been nice for a long time before we left and the ice was going really fast....We opened the Cobham River on Tuesday and had a nice warm south wind and beautiful weather. It was really great! On Wednesday it rained but we were able to get into Cherrington that day. Thursday was a good day and we cleaned and readied Daniels and I was able to haul more motors north for more camps.

We knew the weather was going to change on Friday but we were glad to be at Cherrington where there was much work to do. We were not able to get into Vee or Morleys yet, the wind had blown the remaining ice into each camps front yard:( We woke Friday morning to a cold, windy, snowy day. The wind was howling across the icy water, large chunks of ice were coming into the bay from the far side of the lake since we had a south wind the day before. As me and my good men cleaned the cabins, tested motors and everything else needed for the season, Bruce and one of the Josh's kept the ice at bay in a hard snow. We were happy to be there to get the Bay and Point ready and not in Red Lake where they got way more snow than we got up north.

Saturday came with clear but cold weather and it took some time to get the airplanes ready for business but we were able to get Vee lake done. It wasn`t easy though. Bruce, Young Josh and Cristian hauled a motor through the bush from the other side of the island to get a boat to move the stubborn ice from the front of the camp that re-froze during our snowstorm the previous day.

Near the end of the day, Bruce and Cristian took of for Morleys to try to open a path for the Otter to bring in the supplies, crew and tools. They were successful! We had a group of our regular guests coming on Sunday but were more happy to be there than worry that we were still cleaning the camp. I was able to get into the camp in the morning after Bruce The Ice Breaker made me a path again dropping off my crew and supplies. I was headed south to start hauling people and bringing Morleys up on the last trip. Bruce and our crew would have the majority of the work done by the time I was back. Time was tight but we got it done, Mother Nature sure put us to the test. It was cold today but the weather is getting better and is supposed to be warmer everyday, turning on the fish! I will have fishing reports for you as they come in and of course keep my camera handy.

Here is the crew, from the left Josh, Josh, John(me), Bruce and Cristian


The scene at Cherrington on Friday


Saturday we had to try to keep the Otter warm so we could get going


The ice that was pushed into the bay away from the airplanes


Some lake. The ice was being pushed around by the wind and getting caught in the narrows on most lakes.


The snow was much heavier in Red Lake, I am glad it was not like that up north, although it is all gone already.

The Otter is back in Town!!

Today I brought the Otter home from Sioux Lookout. She has been gone over well and is ready for the 2009 season. It was a nice uneventful trip and everything checked out perfect!

Securely tied to the dock!


The engine covered so the mags don't get wet.



Since we are located on the Chukuni River we have open water sooner than Howey Bay on Red Lake where most outfitters operate from so we have a few extra airplanes around the river. Everyone in our industry is close and rely on each other when problems arise. A favour done will be returned one day!