Winter returns

Wow! Starting to feel like NW Ontario around here lately....no, not that cold but crazy weather swings in very short time. Just a week ago, it was 60 degrees, raining hard, and all the ice and snow in the area was gone. Less than a week later we have more snow on the ground than at any point all winter and most (lucky) guys (not me) are out on the ice fishing.

Just wanted to get a quick blog out here to let everyone know that in addition to our Facebook Group that many of you are members of, we have also recently added a Facebook Page for the camp that we will also be administering to help deliver your stories, pictures, etc. of your trip to camp or other exciting news you might have. If you haven't had a chance to check it out be sure to do so at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peffleys-Canadian-Wilderness-Camp/518316711547563 Hey, and while your there, be sure to "like" us! We have recently added some new You Tube videos to the website (cabins page) and also to our Facebook page so be sure to check them out too.

Show season still rolling on, off to Rockford, Illinois this coming weekend home for three days then off to Minneapolis for the All-Canada show. Stop in and see us if you are in the area!

MIA??

No. Not really missing in action, just taking some time off from blogging and focusing on matters here at home. We trust that everyone's new year is off to a great start, and with February right around the corner, some of you no doubt, will start thinking about your upcoming trip to camp. (like us diehards aren't always thinking about the trip to camp!)

To be perfectly honest, there just isn't a whole lot to blog about when camp is not in season. It was nice to get out on the road to the Chicago and Madison All-Canada shows earlier this month. Thank you to all of our guests who stopped in at the shows for a visit, and to our new guests who booked at the shows. We look forward to having you join the "family" and are excited about having you experience our camp and the great fishing we enjoy on Wabaskang Lake. We have a local show here in South Bend, In coming up over Super Bowl weekend and then a trip to Rockford, Il and Minneapolis, Mn yet this month. If you are a local, and can make it out to the show at the Century Center in South Bend, please do so and try to revive what used to be the old boat show. Our good friends at the Michiana Walleye Association have worked hard in developing this "new" show and we think it will be a hit.

Still no ice fishing for me yet this winter as I got home from the show circuit and promptly managed to catch the mother of all head colds. Guess I should feel fortunate at least it's not the flu, but sure has made life miserable anyway. With some luck, may still find my way onto the ice before seasons end.

I was fortunate enough to get in some fall deer hunting and take a 6 pt. buck the second day of the season. Unfortunately, our fall Lake Michigan fishing, was a "non-event" as several days of extremely high winds pretty much destroyed any near shore fishing opportunities for the entire season.

In Perrault Falls, we hear that the area is receiving some much needed snow which should help maintain our spring lake levels some. Speaking of lake water levels, I did talk to some guys at one of the shows, (don't remember which one), who were telling me that they heard that Wabaskang became very hard to navigate when the water is low. Not sure where this MYTH came from, all I know is we operate a 21' transport boat with a 150 h.p. Yamaha all season long and 95% of the time can do so at full throttle across the 12 miles out to camp. Doesn't sound too tough to navigate to me!

Only 16 short weeks until opening day 2013! See you in camp soon!

Anyone see October?

Wow, talk about a month flying by quickly! REALLY having a hard time wrapping my head around it being November 1 already. Finally after a month of being home and getting a little R&R, facilitating Megan's Sweet 16 birthday party (encompassing four days including a waterpark trip to Sandusky, OH), and Halloween-- I am trying to refocus on outstanding camp related issues so some fall fishing and deer hunting can find it's way onto the schedule!

We have also been working on finalizing the 2013 sport show circuit and have been giving consideration to adding a couple of shows in Rockford, IL and Cedar Falls, IA, as well as looking into some print advertising again this year which we just haven't done much of in the past. Although not finalized at this time, I think we will have some print ads in Midwest Outdoors magazine again this year in their special "Canada Fever" issues. We will also be working with our printers to get new rate sheets for the 2013 season printed for inclusion in our annual Christmas letter that will be rapidly approaching. It may not seem like much, but with a mailing list of well over a thousand past, present and future guests it's quite an undertaking to print, fold, stuff, post and mail the letter. Looking forward to providing you the one-page "wrap-up" of the entire 18 week operating season and of course making the announcement of this year's Catch & Release FREE trip winner for those who supported our fishery by releasing a trophy walleye, northern pike or smallmouth bass. If you are not on the mailing list and wish to be, just shoot us a quick email and we will be happy to add you.

Bookings for 2013 are looking good as of now and we anticipate another very busy season in camp. For those of you who may not have a reservation at this time there are some very PRIME weeks of quality fishing that still have limited availability including the first two weeks of our season and again in late August and early September which historically has been some of the very best fishing of our entire season.

Stay in touch with us via the website, email, our Facebook group or of course this Blog. Until next time, hope your fall season is enjoyable!

Another season passes quickly!

The title seems like such an understatement from my perspective as one day you are unloading your own gear, putting the docks, boats, motors etc. in the water, and in the blink of an eye you are turning around and getting everything in camp ready for the winter.

In between of course, there was a fair bit of work involved in running the camp on a day to day basis over the 18 weeks of the operating season. There was also quite a bit of incredible fishing during those 18 weeks also. Wabaskang Lake continues to live up to it's reputation as one of the premier walleye and pike fisheries in the region and with good reason! Long before September ended the "Walleye" section our Catch & Release board for the free trip to camp drawing was maxed out with guest releases of walleyes over 18". This despite many, many of our guests/groups not even submitting their entries for our drawing. As a final reminder, if you were in camp this season and had releases you still want to submit or some great photos of your trip-just email them to me and I will get them added prior to our late November drawing for next years FREE TRIP winner. I did recently update the photo gallery with a handful of new pictures from the August/September timeframe in camp, but I know many others have photos too, so please send them to me and I will be happy to add them.

Looking forward to seeing all of you again next season. Camp is booking up quickly as usual for next year so if you don't already have a reservation don't delay in being in touch with us too long! In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the end of the season.

Andy Augustine with a beautiful 29" walleye about to be released

Keith Augustine with a big pike from late August

Jim and Andrea Klett with a great looking August stringer of walleye

It only took Kenny Welsh one night in the stand to bag this beautifully coated bear

Jim Rutkowski (with Kenny Welsh above) took two nights to get his bear

Fall colors move in on camp near shut down time

September sunrise in camp...every bit as beautiful as the rest of the year

Trout fishing...

"Rainbow" Trout that is. Chicago sports fans may remember left handed pitcher Steve "Rainbow" Trout, formerly of the White Sox and Chicago Cubs and who also played later in his 12 year major league career with the Yankees and Mariners. As a life long Cubs baseball fan, I remember Rainbow Trout as a key member of the magical 1984 Cubs team that won their division for the first time in 39 years. Rainbow started the season off by pitching a complete game against the Mets in an 11-2 Cubs win that kicked off their division championship run on opening day. He also pitched game two of the NLCS that year going 8.1 innings for the win against the Padres (basically the last happy moment of post season ball for Cubs fans that year).

So why all the baseball history? Just a little background on one of our guests this past week in camp. Not often we can boast about having a current or former professional athlete among our guests, but last week we sure could! What a great experience it was and I even had an opportunity to chat with Steve some about those years in the majors and specifically some memories of his years with the Cubs and about former teamates like Gary "Sarge" Matthews, Keith "Zonk" Moreland, Jody Davis, Ryne Sandberg, Ron Cey, Larry Bowa, Bobby Dernier etc. as we traveled to Dryden for some camp supplies. It was an awesome experience for the entire camp and Steve was kind enough to leave me with an autographed book he wrote entitled "Home Plate-The Journey of the Most Flamboyant Father and Son Pitching Combination in Major League History" as well as an autographed baseball.

Maybe it's the EASY boat ride to camp, the comfortable amenities like hot showers, flush toilets, electricity 24/7 etc., the serenity of our wilderness setting or simply the ability to easily and consistently fill a stringer with tasty walleye and northern pike that keeps them coming back.... A great case in point was Andy Augustine a camp regular who was able to join Mom and Dad (Esther and Keith) for one week of their three week stay. Andy fishing from his 21' Warrior boat released the following walleye: 29", 26", 24", 23", 22", four 21" and a 20". Not "just" a walleye fisherman, Andy also released 10 northern pike over 32" during the week with his biggest a 38" beauty. Not quite as good as last year in terms of HUGE fish when Andy released  44 1/2" and 44" beasts within a 24 hour period, but still a pretty darn good week by MOST fishermen's accounts.

Fall colors are coming on quickly now, bear hunters are in camp and the weather is still beautiful...looking forward to another three weeks of being busy in camp. Here are a few pictures to enjoy until next time.



Steve "Rainbow" Trout- thanks for memories!

Sally Lundy shows off one of hundreds of walleye caught during their August stay

Jim Pondo and a nice 39" northern

Hey big fella, it's past your bedtime.

I smell doughnuts here somewhere!

Smile for the camera...

Fourteen down, four to go....

As it always does, another season is flying by with us beginning the fifteenth week of our eighteen week operating season. With so much of the season past already, you might think that it's time to put things on "autopilot" and cruise through the last four weeks. Unfortunately that's just not the way it works with plenty more work to do with camp full of fishermen and starting next Saturday bear hunters. Bear baiting will help to keep us plenty busy around here in additional to the "normal" stuff. On a positive note, the very warm summer has kept our woodpile in pretty good shape so instead of three weeks in the bush cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking wood, we should be able to replenish what we need in about half that time. On the negative side, it looks as if the washing machine here in camp which we have been nursing all year, has finally spun it's last load and is headed to the dump.

There are still a few lingering projects from the summer also that we want to get the finishing touches on, including the last bit of siding here on the lodge which was delayed when those nasty bald faced hornets built a nest inside one of the walls. Note to anyone who has to spray those things...watch out they are fast as I found out on my first attempt to spray them. I thought I could get the spray straw in the opening in the wall, foam the heck out of them before they knew what hit 'em and be outta there. Turns out they must post a guard right out front as I didn't have one seconds worth of foam going when "the guard" was on the tip of my trigger finger and left me with a swollen right index finger about double the size of the left one and an ache that lasted all day. Man, do those little buggers pack a punch! Thankfully, they didn't send the whole nest to protect the queen! They may have won the battle, but I won the war, as I later re-armed myself with more foam insecticide and full body armor to give them the ultimate "foam bath of death".

The weather here has been variable with a short period of cooler nights now followed by a warmup with some temperatures in the low 80's again forecast for this week and lows only in the upper 50's. Not quite feeling like fall yet, but certainly better than the heat of the summer. Fall colors are starting to spread around the lake now also despite the continued warm weather which is a visual reminder that summer is fading. It is very beautiful here this time of year as the sun lights up the shoreline colors and they reflect off the water.

Well better go for now. Remember to check the website for the weekly fishing reports and to email us your pictures if you were in camp recently!

Transition time

In many regards it is just that. On a personal level, the transition relates to the recent return of the girls to the U.S. after a wonderful five week stay in camp. Lot's of memories and good times with their camp friends again this year. Certainly sad to see them go, but I know they miss their "home" friends too, and are also terribly excited about school starting up again. Right ladies? Well so much for that one.

Another notable transition is with the month change from July to August we are noticing a transition of our walleye fishing to deeper water structure. Of course, there are still many places where walleyes continue to relate to weedbeds making it very easy to "pick your poison" as far as how you want to approach filling your limit of walleye. Part of this transition is that the walleye have really been eager to use their tails. Yes, that's right they do move around and last week was a prime example as they were "here today, gone tomorrow" only to return the day after. For most everyone willing to keep moving around to find actively feeding fish they continue to do very well on numbers. For pike anglers, we are also transitioning into arguably the very best time of the season for trophy northern. Numerous fish over 40" have been caught the past several weeks, including back to back weeks with 45" monsters. The balance of the month should continue to provide some excellent big pike action.

There has also been a lot of camp "bonding" going on the past several weeks which is always great to see. It's not just the kids in camp that are making and maintaining friendships as we hear lot's of the adults talking to each other wanting to make sure that they are rebooking for the same week next year. Obviously the kind of talk we love to hear, and also great for the adults who look forward to renewing their camp friendships again next year. Tom Cellantani from Michigan and Dave Getsfried are two great examples as each of them brought their kids (Tom's son Anthony-11 and Dave's daughter Katrina-7) and had the opportunity to fish with the kids throughout the week and with each other when the kids preferred to hang in camp with the other kids. A joint outing to Lost Lake was certainly a highlight for the four of them, as it was a great day of adventure for all, and adding 60-70 walleyes for the day doesn't hurt when you are trying to keep the kids interested in fishing!

Part of the gang last week in camp. Jimmy Buffet sing alongs were pretty common.

We are looking forward to the last third of our season, as we will have many camp regulars in from now until shutdown, and they will be joined by a few new groups that will be experiencing the camp for the first time. Of course, the start of our bear hunting season isn't far off either so we will be looking forward to sharing some trail cam photos in upcoming blogs.  August is off to a great start and it should only get better. Until next time, here are a few pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Anthony, Tom and Allison with an impressive evening catch!

Tom Cellantani capped off a great week of fishing with this hefty 39" northern

Mark Buchanan with a monster 45" pike

Persistence pays off when perch fishing!

Best bait for big pike? Apparently 17" walleye if you are Joe Gonnering