Merry Christmas to all!

From our family to yours, we wish you a VERY Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years! Hope everyone is showered with abundant health, happiness and blessings this holiday season and throughout the new year.

Former camp owner, John Morgan passes....

I apologize for being late with this notice, but we were recently informed by Steve Morgan (son) that John Morgan, former camp owner (1977-1992), passed away on Thanksgiving Day. We were extremely fortunate to have John in camp with us as a guest on two different occasions. During these trips we really enjoyed the opportunity to visit with John, who loved to share different stories about owning the camp. The history of the camp runs deep and it was great to hear stories that previously had been untold to us.

John on one of his trips back to camp.

It was also very evident to us, that despite not having been back to camp in around 20 years, the camp was still very dear to his heart. He spoke kindly of the changes made during the Lundy's ownership and ours and there was just a special glimmer in his eyes when he shared stories of the camp and about his family who grew up with camp life. John was also kind enough to share a couple of videos that he had shot of the camp and camp guests during he and Betty's ownership. What a hoot he had telling some of those stories!

I also vividly remember John just walking around the camp during his last visit during the week. You could sense the number of memories and emotions that he must have been feeling at the time, as he paused on occasion and just stared off into the distance, perhaps recalling things that for many years he hadn't pondered. As the trip neared weeks end, John and I sat alone on one of the benches down by the motorhouse, and John told me this would be his last trip to camp as tears filled his eyes. Perhaps then more than ever I realized, someday you will sell the camp, but you will always "own" it. Rest In Peace John and may God Bless your family.

On-line condolences  can be left for the family at www.esterdahl.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

With Thanksgiving just a few short days away and still plenty of preparation ahead, I thought I would get a quick blog entry done. The fall season here has been busy with a steady stream of contractors in to complete the damage done to our home during the storms of summer. We are so happy to have everything completely done!

We have also been diligently working on our annual Christmas letter in order to get those out to you in early December. With our mailing list growing as much as it has through the years, the printing, folding, stuffing, sealing, labeling and stamping the letters is really quite a production around here!

I have also been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend some time in the woods during deer season. For many years I have wanted to bow hunt and this year I FINALLY made the purchase and started. Practicing with the bow gave me another good reason (besides raking leaves) to get outside and also to spend some quality time with Allison who has taken a budding interest in archery also.

Some news on the sport show front that you may not be aware of is that the All-Canada show has been sold, after declaring bankruptcy, to a couple of the guys that were previously affiliated with All-Canada. We think that ultimately the change will be good for the show as new marketing ideas are implemented and ways to improve the show come to light. In the short-term, there will be some growing pains as evidenced by the reduction in markets the show will be in this year. In fact, the Chicago All-Canada show will be the only show on the All-Canada circuit. As a result, we have supplemented our former All-Canada show schedule by replacing those shows with other shows that we have worked before and enjoyed like the Madison Fishing Expo and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sportshow. Dates and locations are available on our website at www.peffleyscamp.com

We wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends and hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday!

Another memorable season

The 2013 season (our ninth), will be as many guests heard me say repeatedly during the season, one that will always be easy to remember. Starting with a last minute helicopter ride into camp as a result of a very late ice out, and enough drama and adversity to keep things interesting all season long, it certainly won't be hard years from now to "remember" season nine!

Despite all the challenges that are inherent in operating a wilderness camp, the rewards remain abundant. We were blessed again this season to host not only many, many of our long-time guests who we look forward to visiting with us every season, but also to meet and make friends with many first timers to camp. We continue to be so very appreciative of all the kind comments made about the camp and the efforts we make to ensure that everyone's trip is satisfying and enjoyable. Thank you also for the many referrals that you continue to send our way, as no advertising we can do is more powerful than your recommendation of our camp.

From a fishing standpoint, Wabaskang Lake continues to live up to it's well earned reputation as one of the finest multi-species fisheries in our region. I honestly can't remember another season where guests consistently praised the status of the fishery as much as this past year. Great combinations of quality fish and quantity were in order for most of the entire season, and it appears that there are several recent good year classes of young walleye in the pipeline poised to add to the fishing quality of the lake in the near future.

From a project standpoint, and besides the normal maintenance items like deck staining, painting etc., the season concluded with the new roofs being completed on Cabins 1 and 2. Although they never leaked, the shingles were certainly "tired" and in need of replacement, and in a short 2 1/2 days after season's end they were stripped and re-shingled completing a major project item that we hoped to get done in the spring before the late ice out changed our plans.

Here in Indiana, roofing has also been a priority. Many of you in camp this year heard us talking about a major storm at home that uprooted a huge oak tree which promptly fell across our brand new three season room that was just installed last year and onto the roof of the house resulting in significant damage. Well the new roof and gutters are on the house, most of the water damage has been addressed, and we hope that reconstruction of the three season room will begin again very soon. Spending all summer in camp obviously limits the amount of time we have to enjoy the room to just a few weeks in the spring and again in the fall, so we are anxious to have it redone and hopefully have some good fall season weather to briefly enjoy it.

Once I have had a chance to catch my breath and recharge just a bit, I will try to finally get some more pictures from the season on the website photo album, our Facebook page and/or our YouTube channel. Thanks for your patience and if you have pictures from your trip this year it's never too late to email us some of your favorites.

Summer revisits.....

Well as predicted, summer has in fact returned to NW Ontario. Last Tuesday, the mercury hit 95 degrees here in camp and most of this week has dealt us a dead calm lake with temps in the mid to upper 80's with high humidity. Tough fishing conditions in terms of comfort, but still well worth it as the hot bite continues here in camp regardless of weather patterns. Granted, with the excessive heat this week, I would have to admit the early and late bite have been better....BUT I have also seen some pretty impressive catches come into camp from the mid-day fishermen also.

In other camp news, it finally happened. I have been expecting this every trip across the lake in the cargo/work boat for the past three years, but after 13 years of pushing GRUELING loads of weight 12 miles out to camp across Wabaskang Lake, the old Yamaha 150 hp VMax finally pushed her last load on Saturday. This boat has hauled fuel, propane, lumber, trash, people etc. faithfully for many, many years, but it's finally time for a new engine. As you all know, she's not the prettiest boat on Wabby, but this camp doesn't run without her! She will soon be equipped with some new power and be back in service.

One thing that we have heard almost unanimously this year from our guests is the great shape Wabaskang Lake is in as a fishery, as we have followed up a terrific 2012 season with another fantastic year of BOTH quality fish and good numbers in 2013. Further, it appears the pipeline is well stocked as in addition to tremendous numbers of 15-18" eater walleye we have seen this year AND the number of releases of fish over 20", we have also heard many guests talking about all the 10-13" walleye they are catching in many spots all over the lake. Looks like things are in good shape for future years, and with your continued support of catch and release, it will only get better.

Hopefully, many of you have been following our close to daily highlight reel of fishing photos on our Facebook page, but in case you've missed a few of our recent posts, here are a few recent photos and a few I just got from earlier this year.

Jerry Lundy's monster 30" walleye from last week about to be released.

Dale Vos swears this is the same northern he caught last year during August only a little bigger...

Sally Lundy holds a fine stringer of walleye...not hard to see why August is a popular month in camp.

Jerry's crew from June, yeah the fishing was ok!

Jim Klett a.k.a. Chief OneFeather, with a good pike from his spring trip

Allison Peffley is getting quite a reputation around camp for being a pretty darn good fishergirl. At 11 years old she probably is a few years out from guiding, but I got to admit she's a pretty accomplished walleye angler for her age.

Perch two at a time!

Opening week fishing was so good Bill literally collapsed on the boat!

Weather warming up...Fishing still HOT!

As we start into the second half of August, it appears summer is trying to make a comeback. After spending the second half of July and early August struggling to get out of the 60's and 70's this week's forecast highs are back into the 80's possibly approaching 90.

Regardless of the air temperatures, the one thing during this stretch that has been consistently HOT is the fishing, Very aggressive fish of all species are really making this a fun summer stretch in camp.

We did have a little excitement in camp a couple of weeks ago outside of the fishing. An heirloom gold wedding band found it's way off a finger and to the bottom of the lake. Very fortunately it happened right at the docks and in shallow (4 feet or so) of water. Unfortunately, the first attempt at retrieval stirred the lake bottom just enough to not make it visible. Time for Plan B as they say.  Using a fishing pole to GENTLY and SLOWLY move the top layer of silt on the lake bottom, I was able to uncover the band. Carefully using the fishing pole I was able to gently "hook" the band on the tip of the rod and get it back to our guest. Tears, hugs and relief all at once! It reminded me of playing the old kid's game "Operation"....only underwater and with a lot more at stake. We are just happy it ended well and we are looking forward to hearing the reaction from the granddaughter when she receives the ring as a gift making her the third generation to wear it.

It's hard to believe that after this week only four weeks will remain in the 2013 season. I know I say this all the time, but WOW! how fast it flies by. Having great guests week in and week out really makes the summer enjoyable and go by fast. We are blessed to have had the opportunity to host so many of you again this summer, whether it was your first time here or like Don Strafford your 53rd, please know that we appreciate your business, friendship and loyalty.

Sorry no pictures this time around....will try to snap a few for the next update.

August is rockin'

Wow! What a start to the month, as the first week of August produced some absolutely fantastic fishing for all species except lake trout which no one targeted. The walleye have definitely put the feed bags on as it was pretty much an all day feed with big numbers of good sized 16-18" eater walleyes and many in the 20-22" range with a handful even bigger as I can recall 3-25" fish caught during the week and at least 2-24" walleye.

The same can be said for the jumbo perch. Although it helps to have some crews in camp that will legitimately target them, they have really turned on big time the last two weeks with a lot of 10" plus perch being caught.

Lake water temperatures continue to hover in the 65-68 degree range and water levels are excellent for this time of year as a little extra rain in late July and so far in August have helped to maintain the water level. A little bit of a warm up is forecast most of this week with temps returning to the upper 70's. All in all it has been a great summer of comfortable temperatures combined with excellent fishing.

It won't be long and our first bear hunters will be arriving so we are pulling for the cooler temperatures to hang around. With a little painting and staining still on the project list, some cool and dry weather would fit nicely with that too.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks until next time.

Looks like a nice day for a swim!

CJ with a girlfriend as cute as yours I hope you aren't planning to kiss that fish!

Adam and his Dad with a nice mixed bag of walleye and pike. What a great trip they had!

Loretta kicked off her week by landing this beast Saturday night. None of the guys even came close to topping this one!

Tom  while not catching a monster pike last year, sure showed that in just a couple of years he's figured out how to catch those 'eyes.

Anthony Cellantani with a basket full of walleye he caught with his father Tom.

Julie  with the pike that got her admitted into the Northern Slayer club. Now, what say we head to Margaritaville Jules to celebrate?

Weather cools down....Fishing HEATS up!

The recent string of unseasonably cool weather (highs in the upper 60's to mid 70's), in addition to being very pleasant for working and sleeping at night, has also resulted in the lake water temperatures dropping about 8 degrees from it's July high temp of around 75 degrees. With the cooling water fishing has been bordering on fantastic this week with everyone in camp finding very aggressive walleye, pike, perch and some smallmouth bass. It looks like the second half of the season is off to a great start!

During July we were very fortunate to be able to host a number of military veterans who took advantage of the 20% July discount we continue to offer to qualifying current military and retired military personnel. The freedoms we enjoy came at a price, and we continue to appreciate the sacrifices of military personnel and hopefully making a fishing trip to Canada a little more affordable is an adequate way to begin to express our appreciation.

We also had some great new family groups in camp during July which is always a treat for all of us. Of course, our girls enjoy the opportunity to make new friends in camp and we enjoy the opportunity to introduce the entire family to the beauty of the Canadian wilderness and everything that goes into making it a great trip beyond just the number of fish that you catch.

The Anishinabi Falls

The Anishinabi River- what a beautiful site

For those who's trip is still approaching we look forward to seeing you all soon, and if you weren't in camp this season, it's never too early to start thinking about 2014!

In case you missed this one from our Facebook page....Wow, heaven on earth! 

Great season at the half way point!

It's been a another great (half) season here at camp this summer. We have had some great weather this summer (not too hot), with lot's of sunshine and just enough wind on most days to create a good "walleye chop" on the water. Fishing in July has been very good overall too which always helps to keep a smile on guests faces.

We are also at the mid-point of the Peffley girls six week summer stay in camp and we expect Milissa and Sara to arrive back in camp with us next week. Looking forward to having everyone together again and taking a day here or there for just a little family time.

This is also the time of year where we get more first timers to camp and I have to say we have really enjoyed meeting and making friends with our new guests. After spending many years in the corporate world where a customers shadow in my office doorway meant "we have a PROBLEM", it's a relief to have your customers always showing up in a great mood and eager to experience a fantastic week in the Canadian wilderness. They are happy when they get here and we try to work very hard to make sure that's the way they leave!

We have taken some advantage of the sunshine here recently to get new stain on Cabin decks 1, 4 and 8, with the plan to finish all the decks before seasons end. This is shaping up to be a good year for more general maintenance items vs. major projects. But then again, every year here is a general maintenance year!

Our daughter Emily has taken up photography as a hobby after getting a new Canon camera for her birthday so I thought I would share a few of the budding photographers shots.

Busy times at camp....

As we wrapped up the month of June and head into July, we have remained very busy here in camp. All of the girls are here now (except Sara) who will be joining us later this month once her Mom returns from a two week military related assignment. Fortunately (for them) most of the first two weeks in camp has been very hot and sunny, meaning there has been ample opportunity for swims in the lake whose water temps are now around 75 degrees.

This past week we took a little time to celebrate both Canada Day (July 1) and Independence Day with a camp wide cook out of hamburgers and hot dogs and later in the evening a small fireworks display that all enjoyed very much, bringing the best of the Canadian wilderness and "back home" for our guests together.

With lot's of kids in camp last week it made it a great week for everyone. Of course one of our very special groups (the Holbrook family) were in from the Wabash, Indiana area. This time with Grandma and Grandpa along to celebrate the beauty and serenity of the wilderness and our camp setting. Their visit is always a celebration of friendship and thankfulness for CJ remaining cancer free (many of you may recognize the name as our Make-a-Wish teenager who we provided a free trip to several years ago after he was diagnosed with lymphoma). It's been great to watch him grow up "right before our eyes" as well as younger brother Ben and twin sisters Tarah and Sarah. The boys sure have continued to develop their passion for the sport of fishing becoming active in the FLW tournament series where they recently finished 3rd (and won big bass) at the Fishers of Men Legacy Series Tournament. CJ started his trip well with a nice smallmouth bass while waiting for the boat to arrive at the roadside landing and ended it even better with a PIG 4 pound plus fish while casting from the rock in front of Cabin 6 Friday night. Leave it to that kid to catch two great fish without even having a boat at his disposal! Gotta love it!

Below are just a few pictures from the activities from last week, hope you enjoy, and if you are coming to camp yet this summer, see you soon!

Working the grill and loving it!

Everyone enjoying their meal at the cookout.

The kids enjoy some sparklers before the main firework event
 

Week 4 in the books....

...and what a week it was! Without question the best fishing week so far of our 2013 season. The guys in week 3 sure had it right when they kept saying: "next week things are really going to take off here".

We have been extremely busy here in camp taking care of guests, which has left little time to devote to special projects around camp. Some general maintenance items have been attended to, most notable being a rebuild of the ramp that transitions from the permanent dock to the ATV road going up the hill which we use when transporting your luggage. Much nicer now!

Water levels are high for this time of year, with water well into the motorhouse already. Nothing new there and we've learned to work around it until the water recedes some.

We did have an unusual occurrence in camp last week too as we had a gentleman who is a camp regular have his hip come out of socket while in the cabin putting on his raingear. Very freak accident, but fortunately as he told us, not painful. It did however require the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) to transport a couple of paramedics to the camp to provide him the necessary medical attention. Apparently, as I found out, the paramedics could not be transported on our boat, unless it was a life or death situation. So out came the OPP and the paramedics and within a couple of hours, our guest was on his way to the Dryden hospital where they X-rayed him, popped his hip back into socket and by 7:00 pm that evening he was back in camp having dinner with the rest of the guys. By 8:00 am the next morning he was on the dock, climbing into the boat and off across the lake for some more fishing! I hope I have that much determination when I am 79 years young!

Just a few shots from the last couple of weeks. The photo gallery on the website is way behind but between the photo gallery, the Facebook page and the Blog we hope your able to get your fix of Peffley's Camp news, photos and such.

Dan Worth with a quality eye from last week

Ed Flynn about to release a big northern from Week 3

Momma moose walking the shoreline

Mean Lake sunset.

Mr. Bear approaches the Bowen vehicle on Hwy 502 heading towards camp

The "Hotel". Make a reservation- the walleyes are always biting!

Cathy Connor with a nice walleye from week 3

As mentioned on our Facebook page...When these Wisconsin guys weren't catching perch by the bucketfuls they were slayinig walleye

And when they weren't fishin' they were relaxin' about camp...

Or shore lunching with the rest of the guys

See why it doesn't take long to fill a bucket with these perch...WOW!

Perry Tonn about to give the long-drive contest a shot. He would later win the closest to the pin contest. Congrats Perry!

A two week blur....

That's my best description of the first two weeks of the season. Starting off with the late ice out which dug us into a hole for starters, and compounded by a staff change just one week into the season, there were many times in the first two weeks that we felt so far behind we thought we were ahead.

 Fortunately there weren't too many "unexpected situations" to deal with, although we would like to have a chat with the beaver that took two trees down atop of Cabin 8 and was well on his/her way of bringing down a third when we arrived. We were extremely fortunate that there was very minor damage and other than a few hours of wood cutting, brush hauling and cleanup we came through that situation in pretty good shape.

A broken water line under Cabin 2 was also somewhat problematic as there is little room under the cabins to work on that kind of stuff, but after a couple of hours the necessary fittings were replaced and water was completely installed throughout the camp.

A couple of other minor "surprises" were thrown into our opening for good measure, but let's not sweat the details of those!

The bottom line was this: Camp opened on time and we even got some guests in a day early (Friday afternoon)!!

So the 2013 season is underway and who would have guessed that with such a late ice out that water temps would already be around 46 degrees. It sure provided the conditions for a fantastic opening week with A LOT of big walleyes caught and released, in addition to the ever present great eating 15-18 inchers that Wabaskang Lake is known for. Our second week of the season found the post spawn fish dispersing to their various late spring/early summer haunts and while the fishing was still very good overall, it did require some moving around to intercept these post spawn fish.

I'm not going to repost any pictures on the blog right now from the first couple of weeks, but you can see many of them in our photo gallery at www.peffleyscamp.com or a few highlight shots on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peffleys-Canadian-Wilderness-Camp/518316711547563

As usual, we don't have many "new" guests with us in the months of May/June but we want to mention that we had a really good time hosting our newbies during these two weeks. Great people, great times and we thank you for choosing us for your 2013 fishing trip.

It feels good to be "caught up" with getting camp opened and we also want to say a special THANK YOU to a few of our early season guests who pitched in with a little help. I won't mention any names, but you guys know who you are, and we hope you know how much we sincerely appreciate the help. THANKS again!!

Until next time, tight lines....

HWY 502 CLOSED- as of May 22

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THOSE TRAVELING INTO NW ONTARIO FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 25

For all our guests traveling highway 502 to Dryden this weekend May 25th, please be aware that as of today, Hwy 502 is closed just north of the junction of Hwy 11 near Ft. Frances as the result of a washout. Hopefully the Canadian Border Services Agency can provide more current information as to the status of the highway condition when you cross the border. In advance of the trip you may also find more current information from the CKDR Radio website www.ckdr.net regarding the closure.

Should the highway remain closed by Saturday (May 25) you can travel Highway 11 West out of Ft. Frances to Highway 71 North thru Sioux Narrows to Hwy 17 East to Vermilion Bay. This route is approximately 30 miles longer but very scenic.

Good luck, travel safe and see everyone Saturday!

A wild ride....

That may be the best way to describe the past several days... beginning with a helicopter ride into camp on Wednesday, May 15th. With time running out on us and LOTS of ice still floating around on the big lake, combined with NW winds (keeping it in our way), we made the decision to helicopter in. This afforded us the "luxury" of having all four of us (Milissa, me and our staff) in camp with a whopping 48 hours to get ready for the 2013 season.

With a simple one item "to-do" list we set in on the task at hand. Unfortunately the one item on the to-do list was "everything". While we didn't accomplish "everything", we were ready for our first guests this morning.

It remains amazing to me how quickly the ice conditions can change, as we boated out to the big lake yesterday morning only to find ice from Peffley's Point as far as we could see towards Indian narrows. The leading edge we broke through was probably still 2 1/2" thick and the ice looked more silvery the further you looked towards the narrows, indicating to me that the ice there could be at least 4-6" thick. By 2:00 in the afternoon, NE winds had moved all that ice into back bays and the entire length of the big lake that had been 100% ice covered was now 100% ice free. Game on! Time to get guests into camp and get the 2013 season underway.

So here we are, Saturday, May 18th (2013 opening day) and we have been greeted with intermittent sprinkles throughout the day. Nothing even heavy enough to call a shower. Light winds, warm temps (around 60), made for a very nice opening day. The fishing reports by days end made it even nicer as everyone in camp reported excellent fishing for the day, including Tom Casper's crew who stated it may very well have been their best opening day with us EVER. Water temps of 46 degrees also had me amazed, as with such a late ice out I was anticipating fishing water no warmer than 39-40 degrees, but the warmer water really helped with the walleye bite.

I will try to get some pictures here on the Blog or Facebook soon of our flight into camp and some fishing pictures from opening week.

Until next time...

Still waiting....

Well I was hopeful that my next blog entry would be done from camp and with a "first-hand" update on ice conditions on the North end of Wabby. Those hopes were dashed in a five minute phone conversation with Wayne Clark from Clark's Northern Lights resort. Wayne got a plane in the water and was kind enough to do a fly over camp for me to assess the situation. Unfortunately, his report was not  good. Miller's Bay (around  the corner from camp) is still locked tight  with ice making it impossible still to sit a plane down there.

With weather conditions forecast this week (some rain and chance of thundershowers) the next feasible possibility to fly in would probably be Wednesday. Now from my perspective, while very "tight" in terms of turning camp around and being ready to open, it can be done. We faced a similar situation in 2008 and I was amazed how much you can get done in a 24 hour work day! IF we can get there Weds or Thurs, camp will be ready to open Saturday.

The weather forecast is for high temps in the 50's and 60's for most  of the week with chances of rain most every day beginning this afternoon and continuing thru Weds. Let's hope that holds up (the rain),  although it would be nice to  see a forecast with 70's and even 80's (remember last year). Just like during the season: there just isn't a darn thing anyone can do about the weather. Stay tuned for more updates, and remember when the ice finally decides to go, it can happen practically overnight.

Tick, tock, tick, tock......

as time SLOWLY passes waiting for ice out. I'm  joining you this morning from the Trillium hotel and restaurant in Ear Falls where we have stayed the last couple of nights trying to patiently await ice out. Patience is a virtue, right? It also happens to not be one of my stronger ones, especially when I want and NEED to get to camp so desperately.

We got into the area late Wednesday afternoon and saw pretty much what we expected. LOTS of ice, getting  darker,  but  still lot's of  it. I knew when we were still 100 miles south of International  Falls and the Minnesota lakes were still completely iced over that we were in trouble! I was certainly expecting to see ice, just not 100 miles south of the border still.

Not all has been lost while stranded here roadside as we have managed to get some things accomplished. We got our major supply run for the first part of our season to Kenora out of the way. We got the passenger boat picked up  from  the marina,  washed her up a little and got it in the water ready to go (see: "waiting for ice  out" above). The red trash truck needed a little maintenance that  we got taken care of also with a front tire that dry rotted out over the winter and a battery that  will  no longer hold a charge. Rest assured the red "Bentley" will be ready to haul trash again this year!

In addition, the roadside dock required a little spring maintenance as the hardware that holds the two dock sections together was holding  on by a thread with most of the lag bolts pulling out over the winter.  A couple  new lags and some bolts, nuts and washers and it  is also ready to go.

Unfortunately, it looks like it will still be a last minute decision on opening week. I think, with the warmup forecast for next week we will  make it, but won't know for sure until I can get into camp and assess the ice condition on the big lake which will be the last to go. Speaking  of  getting into camp, I am hopeful that early this week the ice is gone from Miller's Bay and we can sit down in a float plane to hike into camp. We can be ready to rock in just a couple of days provided we can get there!

I have posted a few pics of ice conditions from around  the lake/area on our Facebook page so I won't repost them here. Look for some more on Facebook over the next couple of days.

Well as the snow starts to fall here in Ear Falls, I will sign  off and attend to my breakfast. Until next time, send warm thoughts AND weather!

Ice is out!

Here in Indiana that is.... (gotcha) and actually has been for some time now! With open water calling, I did have the opportunity to squeeze in a couple of bluegill fishing trips. First one with limited success (half a dozen) and the next one much better with a total of 28 nice 'gills most around 8-9". Amazing how quickly fishing fortunes can change, sounds familiar even when you are up in camp. It's generally not a matter of IF you are gonna catch fish, it's more about am I in the right spot at the right time.

I'm not the only one getting in a little spring fishing.....


Ben and CJ Holbrook from a recent bass tournament.

CJ Holbrook with a big bass from the tournament. He and brother Ben finished 3rd. Can't wait to school you again this summer walleye fishing CJ! (got a feeling I'm gonna regret that)

Perry Tonn with a hawg walleye caught from a "secret" spot in Wisconsin.

Ok, so what about ice conditions for Wabaskang? Well we are hearing that there is still ice along the shores of the channel where the roadside landing is, so that certainly is not very encouraging. On the other hand, we have heard reports from Red Lake that there is "only" about 16" of GOOD ice there, which as contrary as it sounds, is actually good news as I would have expected there to be more to be honest.

We expect to be in Perrault Falls by mid-week next week and should be able to give you some first hand reports at that time. We certainly don't expect to be boating into camp next week, but we can get a few things accomplished roadside and try to get a report on ice conditions in Miller's Bay with hopes of chartering a flight CLOSE to camp.

Stay tuned and THINK SPRING!

One day at a time....

I guess that's how everyone with opening week bookings is taking it right now. For that matter so are we. Fortunately temperatures are trending upwards for the Perrault Falls area, but there is still a lot of work for mother nature to do as local reports still indicate over a foot of snow on the ground and LOTS of ice still on the lake. Still too early to hazard a guess as to the exact ice out date, but my gut tells me we are going to be pushing close to opening day (May 18).

We still have plenty to do here in our preparations for the move North, but I think I'm going to take advantage of some nicer weather here locally in the morning for some bluegill fishing. One good bluegill fry should get us through until we can get some walleye in camp! Sure wish I had time to find a few morels to fry up with some fish!

Stay tuned and we will try to get some more reports for everyone next week.

Rethinking last Blog title.....

Spring is almost here? Well the weather the last couple of weeks certainly has me rethinking that one! I guess you have to take the good with the bad. Although the crummy spring weather has significantly cut into some time on the water fishing salmon on Lake Michigan and chasing bluegills and crappies on local inland lakes, the good news is that this extra time at home has given me a jump start on some of the "move North" preparations.

Unfortunately, it appears that Spring is even slower arriving around Perrault Falls as local sources tell us that there is still A LOT of snow on the ground and ice on the lakes which already has me wondering/worrying about being able to get into camp this year hopefully around May 8. If my memory serves me correctly (feel free to insert joke here), it was our 2008 season that resulted in our flying out to camp and walking in the back way as a result of the late ice out. Here are a few pictures of that experience.

Looks like the "old" camp prior to new siding on all the cabins. Still way too much ice in 2008 to make it to camp by boat so...

We just hired a couple of planes to fly us out, land in Miller's Bay and hike the bush into camp the back way.
 

Regardless, we do what we have to and will certainly be in camp and ready to go come opening morning May 18th!

Despite the weather conditions, we have managed two trips onto Lake Michigan for a little spring salmon action. While much slower fishing than we are accustomed to during the Spring, primarily do to the water being "dirty" from all the wind we have had, it was still great to get some family members out on the water....

 



Nephew Chris with a nice 25" Brown Trout on his first Lake Michigan trip



Allison was pretty happy with her first Lake Michigan fishing trip with Dad

Don't hesitate to share some of your spring fishing photos with us! Feel free to post them on our Facebook page or group or email them to us and we will be happy to post them for you!