Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sorry I meant to get this posted yesterday but it just didn't happen!

From our family to yours--Best wishes for a very Merry Christmas (season) and the happiest of New Years!

ON-LINE LICENSING NOW AVAILABLE!

After being promised this was going to happen for the last THREE years, it appears to be a reality! So excited for our guests, I haven't even worked my way through the website myself to be honest with you, but from what I can tell it's up and running. Looks like there is also a new license option for 3 year sport and conservation licenses, for those who make more than one trip a year this might be of interest. Will keep you posted as I work through the website, or certainly feel free to contact me with your feedback and/or experience using the system.

Here is the link: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsFish/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_091032.html

Also, since this has taken three years to materialize, many of your Outdoors Cards (like mine) are expiring this year, but can also be renewed in conjunction with the purchase of your license.

Good luck with your renewals and see you on the docks for more great fishing stories from Wabaskang Lake!

Happy Holidays!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know in our household we certainly have many blessings that we are thankful for, and as always, it was great to see family and friends that we don't see as frequently as we might like.

Hard to believe that December is here already. Seems like I just pulled into the driveway yesterday from camp. Wow, where did those two months go? Outside of wrapping up administrative details and loose ends relating to the camp and season's end, I wish I could tell you where all the extra time has been spent. I know where some of it was spent, as I did dust off my deer hunting rust by getting back into a tree stand for the first time in over 30 years! Somehow I had managed to convince myself (as all us good sportsmen do) that supplementing our meals with some venison would be a very cost effective way to help put food on the table. So how'd that work out for ya, Dave? Well the good news is that I was fortunate enough to harvest a small buck and a doe this year. The downside was that after buying a new gun (Remington 11-87 Super Mag), scope, ammo, hunting clothing and licenses, my "cost effective" venison probably cost me about $30.00 a pound. Ok, so throw THAT argument out the window. Regardless, it felt great to start hunting again after so many years, and it certainly was a lot more fun than going to the grocery to pick up some hamburger. Venison back straps, summer sausage, hunter stix oh my!



A small buck-- great for the freezer!

A lot of time has also been spent the last two weeks getting the annual Christmas letters ready to go in the mail. We know that many of our guests really look forward to our one page recap of the entire 18 week operating season, and of course the announcement of this years Catch & Release FREE trip winner. Sorry not gonna spill the beans here, you'll have to wait for the letter to arrive. The letters will be in the mail this week so be on the lookout for them. Of course many of you have reservations for next season, so your reservation form/deposit reminder will also be included with your letter. The 2012 season is really not that far off.....

Until next time, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and joyous Holiday Season!



Time to rest....

The wood has been cut, split and neatly stacked, the cabins cleaned and winterized, the boats all pulled from the water and outboards winterized, no floating docks remain in the water....another season passes at Peffley's Wilderness Camp. Another summer of incredible memories from a special place in the hearts of so many.

We wish to say THANK YOU! to all of our guests from this past season who vacationed with us, making the 2011 season our best booking season ever!! Thank you again for your loyalty, the appreciation you show us for a well run camp, and the many referrals you continue to send our way. It is all very much appreciated.

To wrap up the season, we tackled the BIG project that was originally slated to happen BEFORE the season opened, but for a couple of reasons ended up being delayed. That being the replacement of the ramp leading up to camp. I had mentioned this in last years blog about being a major goal for the 2011 season, so with 6 days remaining in the season we began to tear out the old ramp! The old saying "better late, than never" comes to mind! As suspected, removing the old proved to be the much harder part of the project. I swear that old ramp had been there for a hundred years and I think it wanted to stay for another hundred as it begrudgingly gave way in small, very HEAVY sections. Ray did a great job engineering the project and in a remarkable 2 1/2 days, start to finish, we were done. I had anticipated a much longer period to wrap it all up, but things went smoothly and, well here are some pictures:

OUT WITH THE OLD

AND IN WITH THE NEW

There are still a few finishing touches we have planned for next year on the project, but overall we are thrilled with the look and functionality of the new "gateway" to camp. Feedback from every guest in camp during the last week was extremely positive so we are hopeful that most everyone else will feel the same. Of course, I have already braced myself for the "hey, that's not the ESCALATOR you have been promising" comments! All I can say is, sorry it's (the escalator) STILL on backorder!
The annual Christmas letter will be in the mail before you know it. Until then, have a wonderful fall season!

Bear Down, Temperature UP....

Our first bear hunters are in camp this week and it took Jared VanLanen just three nights in his stand to harvest a beautifully coated sow on his first bear hunt in Canada. His hunting partner Dave Winkel ( a regular hunter with us) passed on two bears last night, but with some good fortune may arrow one this evening.

On the weather front (no pun intended), it is just smokin' hot here again in Ontario. After a brief cool down temps are back into the mid to upper 80's the past couple of days with heat indices into the 90's. Not exactly what you want when it has already been an extremely hot and dry summer. Last week I was in camp and could smell wood burning in the woodstoves for the first time in what felt like forever, it is always one of my favorite parts of the cooler fall season, and by next week, if the weatherman is correct, I should be smelling wood burning in the stoves again.

As far as the fishing goes, it has been very, very good the last several weeks with the big pike starting to put on the feed bags and walleye being very cooperative at different times throughout the day. We haven't had many guests the past several weeks here targeting perch but that all changed with two groups of five from Wisconsin who have been determined to "put a hurt on 'em"! That they have, and lot's of jumbos included. At last count, one of the parties had their five man limit to take home of 250 perch and the other group of five had at least 150. Most all of these were bigger than 9" and many were 11-12" fish. As good as the fishing has been in these weather conditions, I can't help but believe the season is set to finish on a very strong note.

Jared VanLanen took this bear while archery hunting

Good Fishing, Good Friends and Good Times

Another week in camp passes under bright sunny skies and nights cool enough to grab a sweatshirt for the evening. Not quite the fall of the year, but the days grow shorter and the nights are getting long as we approach one of our favorite times of the year in camp. Fishing remains very good (although the big pike have been a real challenge) and with a lot of our regulars in camp including the "Iowa invasion"--the good times continue every week with lot's of laughs, story-telling and even the occasion "fish-tale".

Mother nature has even mustered up a little rain for us in the last couple of weeks. Just enough to green some of the dry spots in the lawn up again, but hardly enough to dent the lake level which is as low for this time of year as we have seen in the last 5 seasons or so. The other very positive side to the limited rainfall and cooler temps is that the area is no longer a restricted fire zone. This has been one of the very worst years in Ontario for forest fires and resulting acreage that has burned in the last 50 years. We feel extremely blessed to have been spared and give our best wishes to everyone in the region who in some way was impacted by the severe fire situation this season.

Still a busy time for us with a lot of fishermen and bear hunters starting to arrive soon. Still a few things on the project list that I would like to see accomplished now that the weather is a little more maneagable (cooler!). The wood pile is in great shape this year after such a HOT summer, so I hope to spend some time on a couple of other projects instead of cutting, splitting and stacking so much wood. Hard to believe it is almost September already. Won't be long and our seventh season will be in the books, but we will be sure to have a few more blog entries between now and seasons end. Until then we will leave you with a few pictures from the past couple of weeks.

The Pinegar Crew-just another stringer of August walleye.Ho, hum.......

Another beautiful sunrise from camp

Ken Ruttledge with a good pike

Somehow we managed to get them to hold still long enough for one photo!

Katrina Getsfried with one of her first ever Canadian walleye



Ron Louck's crew on their first Canadian fishing adventure



Peggy Musch with a nice smallie she later released

(Almost) mid-August update

Yea, I know what you mean. REALLY mid-August already???? Hard to believe another summer has flown by, isn't it? It's been so dry here, some of the trees are changing and dropping their leaves already, which really makes it feel like fall in that sense. The daytime temps in the upper 70's though continue to remind us summers not quite over yet.

Camp is still very busy, keeping us on our toes, and we continue to enjoy meeting and hosting some of our first timers to the lake. Most of our "newbies" are finding the learning curve on Wabaskang to be fairly short. Others are reluctant to give up what has "worked for 20 years for us in Canada", and have found the learning curve to be a little longer. Regardless of how long it takes to figure the fishing out, the cabins are clean, the air is fresh and the scenery and wildlife is incredible. In fact, I have to mention that I had a BIG bull moose swim across the lake in front of me on my way to the landing today just South of Indian Narrows. Of course, I didn't have my camera, and even worse didn't even have my iphone on me at the time either. RATS!! What a great photo it would have been to share with everyone. It was an awesome moment though, 7:30 a.m. and only two of us on the lake right then: Me and Bullwinkle....

Fishing remains very good overall for most everyone in camp, and with a much needed break in the temperatures and FINALLY a few clouds in the sky (for crying out loud) it will only get better. We look forward to a strong finish to what has been another very good year of fishing on Wabaskang. Bear baiting will start next week so I hope to have some trail cam pictures to post on the blog soon.

Smoke on the water, fish in the cooler....

It remains brutally dry here in NW Ontario, with another 20 fires reported just the other day alone, bringing the active fire total to 140 in the Northwest Region. Most of the activity is well north of us, so when the winds shift from the N or any variation thereof, we are seeing lots of smoke. We continue to be in desperate need of rain and hope we start getting some soon.

Smoke on the water the evening of August 2

On a brighter note, perhaps the smoke has made it easier for guests to "sneek up" on the fish, as fishing continues to be excellent for all species. First timers, veterans, pro's, novice it really hasn't mattered. Even the perch, which some guests have struggled to find, were no match for Norm's crew as they got about 130 of them in two days when they weren't limiting out on walleye that is. Here is a picture of the smaller days catch.



Persistence pays off!

  August and September, if at all like the norm, should continue to provide some excellent multi species fishing with bigger walleye becoming more common again too. That trend seems on the rise also, as many guests have released walleyes 20-25" in the past couple of weeks.

We will begin our bear baiting soon for our first hunters this year that will be arriving September 3rd. With all the heat this year I realize more than ever why we don't start our hunts until September. With it being so warm and dry this year the blueberry crop is very thin and that should lead to a very productive bear hunting season for us this year.

I can also tell that July is over as the big smallmouth that were hanging under the docks all month have now seemed to move on. It sure is fun catching and releasing these hogs while it lasts. I will leave you with a picture of Allison with one of the last one's caught before they moved on.

Allison Peffley with one of many smallmouth she caught this summer from the docks

Until next time, good fishing!

Vermilion Bay Dining Options

Since the Village Corner burned last fall, and with no plan to rebuild in the near future, dining options have become even more limited in Vermilion Bay for those guests who are looking to grab a quick breakfast or lunch/dinner on their way up or on the way home. Busters Barbeque (just west of the junction of Hwy's 17 & 105 about a mile and just past Bobby's Corner) is now open for breakfast. Because of limited space and high demand we recommend calling in advance to make a reservation for any meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner). You can reach Busters at 807-227-5256 to make a reservation.

Restricted Fire Zone

For those guests who will be staying with us from July 16 and later, you should be aware that as of July 16 our area was designated by the MNR as part of a restricted fire zone. This means that no open fires are permissable for any reason. There are currently 92 active fires in the province.

Shore lunches over a camp stove are still allowable, so if you are planning to shore lunch during your stay, we suggest you bring a portable cook stove. How long this fire restriction lasts is indefinite, pending a change in the extremely hot and dry weather NW Ontario has been experiencing. Please e mail us in advance of your trip if you would like additional information or reference the MNR's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services webpage at http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/AFFM/2ColumnSubPage/268862.html

Kids Rule-the week of July 2nd at Peffley's Camp

What an awesome week in camp it was for everyone this past week. Ten of our guests were kids ranging in age from 6-17 years old. Include our daughters and we had a whopping 14 kids in camp this week! (most likely a new camp record)  Also, my apologies in advance to the teenagers for referring to them as "kids".

Although the grownups had quite a bit of fun during the week, it was the youngsters that made camp a special place to enjoy the simple life. Late night fires, smores, games of tag and ghost in the graveyard kept the nights fun and exciting, while swimming, playing catch and fishing from the docks during the day helped occupy their interests when not in a boat. Many new friendships were made during the week and it was great to be reminded by the youngsters just how easy it can be to make a new friend in camp.

Five of the more adventurous girls (along with some supervision from myself and another father) piloted two rafts and paddled their way from camp out to the island for an exploration mission. It was fun walking the island with them and seeing their excitement over finding some of nature's trinkets and just another reminder that there really is a lot more to do here than just fish.

Ready, set.....



GO!!!!!!!

Special friendships, summer memories, and new adventures. There really is more to a Canadian "fishing" trip after all.....

Seriously? Week 6 already!

Every year we talk about how fast the season goes by and that we should be used to it. Well here we are starting week 6 and I can't believe the season (by weeks end) will be 1/3 over already.  As usual, lots of great memories again for many camp guests and us too. It's easy to stay motivated when you hear guests saying things like "I had the best day fishing of my entire life", " I caught the biggest walleye, northern etc. of my life", " I can't believe how quiet and peaceful it is here". We look forward to the last two-thirds of the season with great anticipation as this is the time of the year where we have more of our newer bookings and the opportunity to host and make friends with our "newbies". This is also the time of season where we will have more and more youngsters (the future of our sport) in camp with us too. In addition to providing some playmates for our girls, it is always a treat to see how much fun the kids have while in camp. Makes us think back to our own summers as a kid and all the special memories from those summer trips and vacations.
Enough general rambling for now, we'll leave you with just a few of our favorite pics from 2011 so far.

The Zimmerman/Weaver shore lunch

John Rules with two HOGS

Micah (L) and dad Scott Vande Griend with two dandy smallies

The Vande Griend family

Payton Vande Griend hopes the tooth fairy has a boat to reach us out at camp



Ed Flynn with the largest walleye of his life on his first trip to Canada



Mary and Dave Earll

CJ Widmer-the smile says it all

Don Strafford (L) on his 50th consecutive season to camp with buddy Pete Greendyke

CJ Widmer (L) and Austin Countryman from opening week

Corky Branda and a trophy pike

Jon Earll

Another week goes by....

and we say goodbye to another campful of happy fishermen/women and kids. The last two weeks have produced both excellent weather and fishing despite being a little on the breezy side this week. In fact, if you previously subscribed to the old adage "Winds from the East, fish bite the least" you most likely would have changed your mind had you been here this week. If the winds weren't blowing East, they were blowing Northeast and yet I would have to say this was probably the best week of fishing we have had overall this season.

A veteran crew of returnees showed their experience fishing Wabaskang, Lost, Wine, Dowell and Mud lakes and reported excellent fishing everywhere they went. Minnows caught fish, crawlers caught fish, crankbaits took fish, twister tails produced...it was one of THOSE weeks. This comes on the heels of last weeks 993 fish effort from Bob Stromberg's Seneca, South Carolina crew of four. Just when you thought fishing couldn't get any better....

No signs of mayflies yet, water temps near 70 degrees and plenty more great fishing ahead this summer. We did have one cancellation for the week of July 9-16th if you know someone who is still looking for a last minute trip have them give us a shout!

It's about to get a little crazier here as Megan, Emily, Sara and Allison will be arriving early next week. I will try not to fall too far behind in the blog updates!

Until next time, farewell from the distant shores of Wabaskang Lake.

Fishing is great, and the weather? Well not so much.....

To be quite honest they have both been a little on the streaky side. Although it seems both are getting a little more consistent now. Not to imply that the fishing has been bad by any means, but a little more up and down than we are accustomed to here on Wabby.

We had two groups back in camp this year after having to miss last year (quite a painful experience I was told) and we welcomed them back with some pretty good fishing. Cory Dauner and his father Roger brought a friend and newbie with them this year and after shaking off the rust put together a very solid trip. Scott Vande Griend returned with his family after suffering through WLSWD. For those who don't know the acronym it stands for Wabaskang Lake Smallmouth Withdrawal Disorder. Between the excellent walleye fishing on Wabaskang and their great trip to Lost, it wasn't until late into the week before they found a cure. I am happy to report that a fully recovery has been made and we expect to see them again next year.

Joining us for their seventh consecutive season was Mike Yates "the Chief" and Steve Pike "the Scout". What a hoot it is to have these two characters in camp! Pete Paruch from St. Joseph, Michigan was in camp again for over his 20th year with his brother, nephew, two sons and family friend. Last year we had blogged about Pete and Randy's father who at 90 years old was making his last trip with the boys. Just want to let you know we missed you Ed, but I am sure the boys will regale you with their many tales of excellent fishing this week.

Two new groups (both from Indiana) were also with us this week, comprising two of only a small handful of new bookings for the entire month this year. Devon Sherer's crew from the Rochester area made the 18 hour ( I won't go into their travel misadventures that added a BIT to this time) trek north for their first ever Canadian fishing trip. For first timers they did a pretty good job getting past the learning curve...GOOD JOB guys, and see you next year. Same can be said for Bob Cuskaden's crew from northern Indiana. After a slower start they put the pieces together and left camp extremely happy and looking forward to next year. I guess 51 smallies over 16" in just a couple of days will do that to you!

Dave, Mary and Jon (son) Earll were with us for their third year and as always had a great time and continue to be one of our favorite family groups of the entire season. Already looking forward to seeing you next year.

Finally our long time guests and great folks from Wisconsin-Bob and Sandy Bowen and John and Cathy Connor were with us again this year. Unfortunately, Bonnie and Charlie Sparr the other third of the regular group had to miss because of a granddaughters recital. We missed you guys this year, but look forward to your return next year. In their absence, four other family (in-laws) and friends joined the crew and quickly found out all the stories at home through the years from Bob, Sandy, Cathy and John weren't just "fish tales". Now if you guys can just cut the gear back to just one semi load that would be great!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Week 4 of the season is already here with many great memories from the 2011 season already with us, and many more await.....

Until next time,

2011 Season Underway

Grab a cold beverage of choice, raise it high in the air, and say in true Bud Light commercial fashion: HERE WE GO! The 2011 NW Ontario fishing season is (with the walleye opener today) officially underway. Sorry for the delay in getting this posted it was supposed to be posted on Saturday but with the poor weather we had to delay the award ceremony (read below).

Cloudy skies, intermittent sprinkles, and easterly winds around 12 mph did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of guests who have long awaited this week. The fish did not disappoint with good catches being reported from throughout camp on all species ( except perch for which no one fished). Lake trout, walleye, pike and smallmouth were all caught despite the dramatic change in weather from the sunny skies, light winds and 75 degree temps from last week to today's emerging front. It wasn't fast and furious, but with some hunting and pecking most everyone was able to catch plenty to eat. Water temperature is around 58 degrees.

Joining us this year, for his record 50th consecutive year is Don Strafford who wasted little time in getting in some early lake trout fishing and with good success. It is always great to have a kid (Don will turn 81 in a couple of months) in camp. Just like a kid, he and Pete were out right until 10:00 pm (it gets dark about 9:45PM) on Thursday night laker fishing and had me pacing the floor watching for them. I guess if the passion for the sport runs deep in your veins there is simply no denying it.



Don Strafford (L) and Pete Greendyke with some early season Lake Trout



To celebrate Don's 50th year in camp, we presented him the following plaque: (sorry for the rough photo)



This may not be the only 50th year award we present as we have a couple of others knocking on the door.....but until we celebrate the next one, we just want to say one more time "Thank you Don" from all of us, it is always a pleasure to have you in camp.

L-R Pete Greendyke, Steve Strafford, Don Strafford and me

Don Strafford with his 50 year recognition award

We will try to keep the blog updates coming fairly regularly as you look forward to your upcoming trips to Wabaskang. Until then...take care and see you soon.

Feels good to be at camp...

A sentiment that I know many of you would agree with. We got in late in the day on Monday after a joyous 3 hour "experience" being "processed" at the border. (Please feel free to insert your own words for experience and processed! Of course, there are always a few hiccups (i.e. flat boat trailer tire) to further slow the process, but at that point nothing could stop us from getting to camp. Just enough time to get everything unloaded and into camp and get the generators fired up for some lights. On Tuesday we headed back to Dryden to pick up Ray and Marilyn at the bus stop and to return to camp to get started.


The weather this week has been pretty tolerable overall with the exception of today which stayed in the mid 30's almost all day with some rain and sleet mixed in for good measure. Great day for indoor projects and we took advantage of it! Brand new gas ranges are installed in Cabins 6 & 7 and a new water heater is in Cabin 7 also. On Wednesday we got the floating docks all back in, along with a couple of boats and hope (weather permitting) to put more boats in tomorrow.

The water temperature for you early season bookings is now 45 degrees, but with an excellent forecast over the next seven days I would expect opening week water temps to be close to 55 degrees or possibly warmer which should result in an excellent opening week!

Looking forward to another incredible season, hope you are too!

Ice Out Draws Near

Great news from Perrault Falls, as it looks like ice out on Wabaskang is now just a few short days away. The last couple of days of temps around 16C ( thats about 61F) and some strong South winds have really started to speed up the ice out process I am being told from our friends in the area. Looks like we will get to boat in to camp this year and not have to fly! That comes as great news to all of us. Rain showers have returned to the short-term forecast also, but I think that is just to "welcome" us back to Ontario.

Lube the reels and grab a stringer, its almost go time!

Rain or shine, the next blog entry will be from the wilderness of NW Ontario. Stay tuned!

Still searching....

For spring that is. Talk about some crazy weather... on Sunday April 10th here in Granger we hit a high of 82 degrees. One week later, we had minor snow flurries. C'MON!! Unfortunately, this crazy temperature pattern held true in Ontario also, with the last week reverting to daytime highs in the 30's and 40's and overnight lows in the teens. Yeah, I know thats MAKING ice, not MELTING ice. Now the good news is that rain and warmer temps are in the forecast again for this week which will help to get things going again.

Most reports I have from the area are indicating anywhere from 16-24 inches of ice on area lakes and still tight to the shore on the bigger waters. Fortunately, most accounts are also reporting that very little of the remaining ice is "good" ice with lots of slushy layers between. So once things get moving it should (with just a little help from Mother Nature) go pretty fast.

UPDATE: Village Corner

Many of you have asked in emails, phone calls or by other means about the status of the Village Corner (gas station, restaurant and tackle store) located at the junction of Hwys 17 and 105 in Vermilion Bay. There has been no progress made to date in starting any rebuilding and so the likelihood of any reopening for the 2011 season appears slim. Bobby's Corner to the west about a mile is still open for gas, phones, tackle or other last minute supplies if necessary, as of course will be Dutchie's General Store right there in Perrault Falls. Some cell service is available in Vermilion Bay as well, depending upon who your carrier is. If you are calling by cell to arrange pickup at the landing, I would strongly suggest pulling off the highway right in Vermilion Bay to place that call as the reception can get pretty sketchy as soon as you have headed north on Hwy 105.

On a final note and as evidence that spring (despite many outward appearances) is HONESTLY getting here, I have one more local fishing story to share. A friend of mine back from the days of my involvment in the Michiana Steelheader's called me last week to see if I was available for some bluegill fishing. We had actually tried this once before about two weeks prior with little success and left the lake with a consensus opinion that "spring isn't here yet". Well on Thursday, April 14th we decided to try it again. This time with much better success as we caught about 75 bluegill on the day, culling through about 25 of the smaller ones, to keep a two man Michigan limit of 50 fish mostly in the 7-9 inch range. What a treat it was to have fresh bluegill for dinner on Friday night! After not getting in any ice fishing this year, those bluegill fillets sure didn't last long on our table with Milissa and the girls chowing down like it was their last meal (and I guess I probably ate a couple of pieces myself)! May just have to try that again one more time before heading north!

Just a few of our 50 fish limit...gosh were they good!

Until next time--keep thinking Spring and some excellent fishing on the cool, clear waters of Wabaskang Lake.

Spring update

Hey everyone,

Hope you are enjoying the very slow and deliberate arrival of Spring this year. After being teased weeks ago with some temperatures in the seventies, it has been a treat since to get a sunny day in the 50's. Despite the cooler temperatures, I actually had a chance to get our boat (TrebleTime) out on Lake Michigan twice recently for some early spring coho salmon fishing. After neglecting the boat for nearly the last five years ( being in camp all summer, the home fishing season is pretty short ya know), it sure felt great to get her back in the water. It required a lot of cleanup, mechanical issues to address, new trailer tires and a handful of other things, but on the morning of March 31, we set in at Michigan City, IN for her "maiden" voyage in quite some time.

As luck would have it, the fishing Gods blessed us with some incredible spring salmon fishing which produced a three man limit in just two hours of fishing. It felt really great to be back on the water again, and also to know that I hadn't forgot EVERYTHING about setting downriggers, planer boards etc. that come with fishing the big lake.

With having a such a good time on the shakedown trip, and a favorable weather forecast for the next day, I decided to try to find a boat partner for the next day and return to the scene. Whereas the day before the lake had a pretty good residual chop on it left over from the previous days winds, this trip greeted us with NO wind and a lake as smooth as glass. Not necessarily the best conditions (sometimes) for fishing, but certainly pleasurable to us and comfortable to fish in. Any concerns about the smooth lake hampering the fishing were quickly put to rest as the first salmon came to the net about 10 minutes into the trip. A short hour and 20 minutes later, we were pulling rods to head in with another limit (2 man this time). Not quite the adventure and beauty of fishing Canada, but after a LONG winter it just felt great to be on the water again.

Speaking of Canada....rumors from Ontario also say that spring is SLOWLY arriving. Forecasted temperatures for much of this week and into next are in the mid 40's with some possible rain (come on RAIN!) and snow (yuck!). Still a lot of ice on the lakes, but nothing some warmer temps, rain and winds can't fix in short order if mother nature continues to trend the right way.

Approximately one more short month at home before heading up to open camp and as usual there still feels like a ton of things to get done between now and then to make the transition up north. As always, we are excited about another season drawing closer, as we know all of you are too. We look forward to hosting our guests again this summer and providing you an excellent fishing and/or family vacation with us. Stay tuned for more information regarding the status of ice out on Wabby.

Until then take care and hope to see you all in camp soon!

March comes in like a lamb.....

At least here in northern Indiana it did, so if the saying holds true can we expect it to leave like a lion? Not sure to be honest exactly what that would mean, but at this point I certainly hope it doesn't mean more snow and cold weather. Yes, you guessed it, we have had our fill of winter this year and are really starting to pull for Spring to show up.

Of course this also gets me thinking about camp (like there is ever a day that I don't!), and what getting in this year might look like. As winter holds on-- I think more and more that we might be very fortunate that this is a late opener (May 21) this year. As of this moment the extended seven day forecast for the Perrault Falls area is calling for a high daytime temp during the next week to only reach 19 degrees and overnight lows this coming weekend still around -15 degrees F. BRRRR!!!!!!!!!!, and certainly not the conditions we need to get some ice melting. Now, before everyone calls and cancels their opening week reservations, please note there is still PLENTY of time for things to warm up and the ice to go out (keeping in mind average ice out on Wabaskang is generally around the first week of May anyway) Certainly, WAY to early to push any panic buttons yet, AND on a bright note, the longer the ice hangs in there the better the lake trout fishing is going to be in addition to our typically excellent walleye, pike and perch fishing this time of year.

We would love to be able to supplement our springtime blogs with some stories of our guests. If you have a great story about a past trip to camp, or would just like to share your excitement about an upcoming trip to camp if you are a first timer, please email it to us and we will include your stories in our spring blogs.

In the meantime, think Spring, warmer weather and another season of excellent fishing on Wabaskang!

Road Trippin!

Hi All,

Just a quick blog this time from the road. I am currently in Stillwater, MN staying with a good friend dating back to my public accounting days and trying to get a few administrative details handled while waiting for the start of the Minneapolis All-Canada show this Friday (2/18).

This trip has already covered stops in Sioux Falls,SD; Omaha, NE; St. Cloud, MN; and this weekend Minneapolis. As the show circuit goes, it has been typical in that some of the shows have been very good, some average and some downright poor. One thing that stays constant is that for many show guests who do take the time to visit our booth, they learn quickly that we offer a pretty hard to beat package of remoteness, excellent fishing and affordability. Hopefully, this at least gets us on their "short list"!

With just the one show remaining on this trip, I am really starting to look forward to wrapping up this trip and getting back home. The bummer of this trip is that our daughter Megan is competing in the state finals of ISSMA (Indiana State School Music Association) this weekend and I am going to have to miss it. :-( (Good Luck Megan-you can do it!)

Once back home, there are just a couple of small local shows to attend. One is the Michiana Walleye Association's Sportsmen's Show.

http://www.michianawalleye.org/sportsmansoutdoorshow.com/home.htm

We look forward to maintaining our relationship with this local fishing club and continuing to provide them a free trip to our camp which they in turn raffle off to provide funds for an annual scholarship to a local high school student interested in studying fisheries management or related subject. Great program for which we are glad we can be a part.

Not much left for openings this year, but still some September dates which is a great time to be in camp and experience some terrific fall fishing. Give us a call if you are interested.

Until next time, tight lines!

Winter Wonderland in Northern Indiana

Winter Wonderland

Timing really is everything. As I pulled out of our driveway in the wee hours of January 7th to head to St. Louis for the first show of the year, who would have guessed just a short 24 hours later our area of northern Indiana would be buried in 25" of new snow. Milissa (due to a military commitment) was not able to attend St. Louis with me. Talk about being a hero (or goat as the case may be), I go off to talk fishing and hunting for the weekend, she stays home and clears 25" of snow from the driveway. Now I know what many of you are already thinking, and I couldn't agree with you more. It IS a tough job marketing a camp with all the competition out there, but gosh darn it someone has to do it! As our girls would quickly follow up with in their vernacular JK, JK, JK!!!!! ( for those of you who are teenage text unsavvy that stands for "Just Kidding") Fortunately, we do have a snowblower and Milissa wasn't left home to shovel all that snow by hand, and bless her heart she did a great job and I even managed to gather some new business for camp too, although with the shows it's never easy (read on).

Yea! More of the "white stuff"

After leaving St. Louis, on Monday I headed to Indianapolis to work the Indy (actually in Carmel) All-Canada Show. Milissa would join me on Tuesday of the show. Of course, it started to snow making the 2 1/2 hour drive down to Indy a little more eventful but otherwise fine. Unfortunately after a good night of attendance Monday night, the shows (I think mostly due to weather considerations) attendance on Tuesday took a huge hit with probably only 40-50 people attending the show the ENTIRE six hours. As the show GROUND to a halt Tuesday night, I was quietly considering the events of the last week. I leave for St. Louis, Milissa gets buried with snow. She drives thru the snow on Tuesday to help out in Indy and there are very few show attendees----I can feel the noose tightening. Fortunately, we salvaged the day/night with a great experience at Mitchell's Fish Market in Carmel with some wonderfully fresh seafood and a couple of cold beverages. While there, we also received some excellent service from our waitress who is a Notre Dame Law student and who was working there on Christmas break. Thanks again for the great recommendations and excellent service!

Now it's home (and just so everyone knows: the snow gods are also willing to dump on me), to about six inches of fresh snow as I pull in the drive from Indy. MY turn to get behind the snowblower! Won't be long again now and the second half of the show circuit will be upon us and it will be time to hit the road for South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota. Let's hope for better weather for travel and at home this time around! Cancellations have been few this year, but a few prime weeks do show a cabin open here or there. Maybe it's the week your looking for!

Until next time--stay warm and I don't think it's too early to (start) thinking spring and that first walleye tap on the end of the line.