August goes out with a BANG!

While the first two weeks of August certainly provided some very good fishing from here in camp, the month has finished out on an even better note with some absolutely excellent fishing. Cooler days and nights, combined with some cloud cover and winds to stir things up have certainly lit a fire under the walle;ye. We have even had a couple of pretty good rains in the past week which we were in need of to water the lawn and turn the fish on even more.

August, as it always is, has been a very busy month here in camp and the fishing has provided many guests another excellent trip to camp with many checking out saying "fabulous time", "awesome fishing", etc. Music to our ears and thankful for our many great long-time guests that continue to make the summer an INCREDIBLE experience for us too!

Although we don't get many pictures from our guests when they check out, the fishing has just been too good to not share a few that we did get.

Tomorrow is September 1, and I think we still have some great fishing ahead! Until next time...

Andy Augustine another long time guest of camp is certainly no stranger to landing big pike

John Ball while not out searching for smallies, certainly was pleased with the fight this guy put up

Don Boyer another long time camp guests has caught thousands of northern from Wabaskang over the years, none fought harder he said than this 36" beauty.

Lane Boyer, Don's grandson made his first trip to camp and discovered why Grandpa Boyer has come here for so long

Doug Boyer (Don's son) showed quickly that even a 28 year gap between trips was not enough to keep the walleye safe from him! (p.s. If it's 28 years until the next trip Doug, we won't be here to host you)

Unfortunately for John Ball who loves to eat northern for shore lunch, this 30" guy was too big and had to go back.

Warren Daun while being a relative "newbie" to camp, certainly has figured out this lake quickly

Who wouldn't smile over a walleye like this?

Or this?

Even Aaron Daun is all smiles

C'mon Chuck you know you want to smile...

Earl Gransee with a bonus big smallie

Gary DeGrote and Tom Holtman with a fine looking stringer

Same for Earl and Greg...

Earl got in on the big northern action with this hefty 34" pike

Great summer passing, fall approaches

It's been another fantastic summer here on Wabaskang with some exceptionally delightful weather with only a few really hot days. It has been very dry with little rain to deal with, plenty of sunshine and a long extended period of light winds perfect for fishing.

Water temperatures after peaking at about 76 degrees are back down to around 70 now with the cooler nights we have had in the past week and the lake level is down significantly (about 2 feet) from our spring time high water level. The water is still above average for this time of year, but certainly very manageable compared to the Spring levels.

We wrapped up July with some excellent fishing and several more groups taking advantage of the Military Discount we offer. It's great to be able to say thanks to our veterans. We continue to get much accomplished here around camp, and while not tackling any major projects this season, we have been able to check off many of the "maintenance" items on my list. We still have plans to finish a complete rebuild of our roadside landing as this year's high water took it's toll and at this point it will be easier to rebuild than repair. I will post some pictures here or on our Facebook page when we get it all done.

With August here we will also be turning our attentions to bear baiting as we will soon have hunters in camp to compliment a full camp of fishermen. It's amazing to think but during the whole month of August we will only have two groups fish with us for the first time! Every other group are annuals or at least a party that has fished with us in the past throughout the years. That August fishing on Wabaskang must be holding up pretty well!

Only five weeks remaining in what has been another outstanding season for us here at camp. We look forward to a strong finish and hope to keep you updated again soon. Here are just a few of the family fishing trip pictures sent to us during July.

They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I think in this case it's a big walleye

Apparently smallmouth are too...

Even little walleyes can bring a BIG smile to a girl's face

Oh, and they tend to make the boys smile too

Of course Dad's smile over big ones...

...and Mom's too

Kellie McVay proves northern can bring big smiles 

And John McVay thinks big smallmouth are "awesome"

Michael Payne would have loved to smile for this picture but his big 41" northern was just too heavy to lift and smile at the same time.

There's the smile. Despite the right foot in a protective boot that had them wondering if they might have to cancel their trip. Boy, were they glad they didn't!

Right, Dad? Jason Payne with his own big fish.

Michael wasn't satisfied with this 37" northern from early in the week, so he went out and got the 41" fish above.

Grant and Rachel were thrilled to be on the trip with Mom and Dad for the first time this year.

Water levels receding and warming up

After several weeks of watching the lake level begin to fall, only to have it rain and start all over again, we have finally in the last 2 weeks, seen the lake level consistently start to drop. It has been much drier and warmer over the period, which also has our surface water temps back to around 70 degrees, resulting in more adult swimmers here in camp joining the youth that have been swimming regardless of water temps.

Speaking of youth, we finally have our whole gang here now with Megan (boyfriend in tow) and Sara arriving last weekend to join Emily and Allison who are in their fourth week of their stay. We've had a lot of kids in camp as usual again this season and also have had several groups take advantage of the July Military Discount that we offer to honor and show appreciation to the warriors who have and continue to defend our great nations. (Canada and the USA alike)

It's hard to believe that July is almost over. Soon we will be bear baiting and cutting wood for next season. Wow, hard to believe. Again, it seems like yesterday that we just landed via helicopter here in camp. Our tenth season is certainly shaping up to be another great one with lots of excellent fishing and a great blend of our camp veterans ranging in experience from 5-45 years, and new guests who we have enjoyed getting to know, many of whom are planning to return to see us again next season.

Pictorial speaking, here are a few highlights of the last couple of weeks...

Brian Buchanan with one of over 800 fish the Norman party caught last week

Jack Trufant also with the Norman party is all smiles over this big pike

J.D. Heisler showing that when they weren't hammering pike the smallmouth bite was quite entertaining too

Jack Trufant with another big pike from last week

John Heisler shows off yet another nice pike from the Norman crew

Allison taking advantage of the "under the dock" smallie bite

Yes, the walleye are still biting too.

Tyler and Wyatt get in on the under the dock smallie action

Fran VanHoorweghe took about 20 minutes to catch this 36" northern last week from the narrows 

Randy Gaines caught a 34" northern on this Polish Plug given to him by a late friend. See the full story on our Facebook page.

Cool, damp and great fishing!

With already record or near record water levels, the last thing we needed was a damp summer, but so far that's what we have had. Fortunately, the rains have been somewhat scattered with many nice days between, but we just start to make progress on the lake going down and a decent rain pretty much puts us back where we started. July (so far) while typically warm and dry has been much cooler and damper than usual. Great for the fishing, just not what we need to get the water levels down.

Other than our unusual weather patterns, we continue to get much accomplished around camp including numerous little projects that have been on the "to-do" list for longer than I care to admit here! Two of the girls are here for their summer visit and by the end of this coming weekend all four will be here. Just in time to visit with many of their camp friends.

This week is week 9 of our season, so we will be kicking off the second half of our season this Saturday. Wow, hard to believe half the 2014 season is already over! Until the next blog, I will leave you with a few more pictures from the last couple of weeks.

One hungry walleye! Allison and I each hooked the same walleye while fishing together last week.

Matt and his father Steve with two nice chunky Lost Lake walleyes. Matt is the third of Steve's boys to make the trip to camp.

Matt with a gorgeous Lost Lake walleye. Love it when those 'eyes flare up and pose for a great picture!

Chuck and Mark with two typical Wabby footballs.

Jason and Chuck with another Lost Lake doubleheader.

Joan Lambrecht with a good looking walleye from late June

No stranger to big fish, Matt Tester with another pig walleye

Speaking of pigs...how's this to start off your first fishing trip to Canada? Congrats again to Hans McDonald on a great looking northern!

Ralph Miller with his personal best 26" walleye about to go back in.

Warren Tester with a fat June walleye

Small mouth but big body. Gotta love these powerhouse fighters!