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