March Madness

If you thought from the title, this Blog was going to be about the college basketball tournament, you are wrong. Although the tournament is certainly a big part of March, the title is actually referring to the weather. Even at that, I'm not sure "madness" is the best adjective to describe this weather pattern! We came pretty close to setting a new record high EVERY day this week in Granger, and the forecast for Perrault Falls this coming week looks pretty incredible also. Forecast highs for this week in Perrault Falls:

Saturday-59
Sunday-62
Monday-70
Tuesday-67
Wednesday-56
Thursday-59

With temperatures like that, it won't take long to make quick work of the ice on Wabaskang Lake. It really tempts me to head north with the boat in the event that ice goes out before the walleye season closes (April 15) for a little open water walleye fishing. Probably not going to happen as there is always a lot to get done in preparation of heading to camp later this spring, and with Spring Break for the girls fast approaching, it's probably more of a pipedream than a reality, but then again.....

The March warm up has made it extremely pleasant conditions for some early salmon fishing on Lake Michigan for us, and we took advantage of that every opportunity we had last week. Three trips to the lake yielded a total of 42 coho salmon. These spring coho are some of the finest eating fish available from the big lake. Whether grilled, pickled, smoked, blackened...no matter how you prepare it, it's some tasty stuff!

Hopefully some of you are able to take advantage of this incredible Spring weather and wet a line yourself. Send me some pictures of your spring catches and I'll post them on the Blog. Although it may not be specific news about camp, or even Canada for that matter, it will still help to shake off the remnants of that cabin fever. I'll start it off with a couple from our Lake Michigan trips this past week, and a local bluegill catch.

Nine coho salmon and a great eater Brown trout bonus



Jerid Ostrom's fine catch of spring bluegill taken last week in SW Michigan



(L-R) Camp guests Cory Wright, Tom Bauters and Robert Bauters with some great looking (and eating) coho

Enjoy this fantastic weather! Until next time, tight lines.....

Michiana Walleye Association Scholarship Fund

For the past six years we have been fortunate enough to be involved with the Michiana Walleye Association and their annual college scholarship fund the Ukele Memorial Scholarship. In case you missed it on our Facebook page, we donate a FREE trip for two to camp every season ( a $1,400.00 value) to the MWA, and they raffle off 300 tickets at $5.00 each to generate the funds to award the scholarship. The program has been extremely successful through the years, with several recipients going on to excel in their field of study which is outdoors and conservation related. You can read more about their program and this year's winner on their Blog at http://michianawalleye.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in purchasing a ticket to support their scholarship fund, please contact the MWA from their Blog or their website http://michianawalleye.org/index.htm or simply shoot me an email and I will be happy to coordinate the ticket sale for you.

Thank you for your support of the program!

Time flying by....

Perhaps the whirlwind travel of last week just made it seem even much more so. After leaving "lovely" Northern Indiana for five days on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, I was home for one day to unpack, do laundry, repack and head to Minneapolis for our last All-Canada Show of the season. Even with our incredibly mild winter here in the Midwest, I have to admit the warmth of the Bahamas and abundant sunshine was a welcome relief. Of course, if you drink enough rum punch, everything is a relief and I think we accomplished that!



Cabbage Beach, Paradise Island Bahamas



Since our daughters had a four day weekend, I was able to take our youngest (Allison-9) on a "business" trip with Dad. It was great having some extra one-on-one time with her although she (for some reason unknown to me) opted for some shopping with friends at the Mall of America vs. working the booth with me much over the weekend. Go figure... Regardless, we still had some quality time together and had a great visit with our good friends from Stillwater, Mn and their kids. Special thanks to the McDowell's for their tremendous hospitality while we visited. Thanks also to all of our guests and prospects who stopped by our booth for a visit. Several bookings have already come in from the show and for that we are very appreciative.

In some Ontario/camp related matters, there is some good news on the horizon regarding DUI's and other minor infractions. An excerpt from an email received from the Patricia Region Tourist Council follows:

A policy announcement was made advising that effective March 01, 2012 a Special Public Policy will be put in place which will allow for a CBSA officer to grant a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP), to those individuals who have had only one minor conviction, where the sentence was less than 6 months in length. There will be no fee for this TRP, and the issuance of the TRP will be at the discretion of the CBSA official. However, it is understood that this special public policy should significantly reduce the number of inadmissible visitors to our country.

Additional information on this matter is expected to be released on the Canadian Citizenship and Immigration website http://www.cic.gc.ca/ after March 1, 2012. This, of course, is received as great news from not only us tourism operators but also our guests who may have previously been denied admission into Canada for a minor infraction.

March is almost here already, I guess the opener can't be too far off? See you soon!

February Blues?

Perhaps February "boredom" would be a better title? The very mild winter and a much slower show schedule this year, apparently is leaving me with too much time on my hands. After hearing from several guests about "keeping the Blog updated" etc., thought I would use a little of this free time between shows to do just that. After being on the road for the Chicago and Madison All-Canada shows, we are in the middle of a one month lull until it's off to Minneapolis for the last All-Canada show on our circuit this year. The shows (as they always are) have been a mixed bag of visiting with new and old guests, booking some new business, and frustration over the number of people who don't even look your way when you know you have a great product to offer them. Well as they say "it is what it is" and camp will be pretty much full by the time we leave in May regardless.

One of the many great visits we had on the road in Madison, was with soon to be first time guest Bob Weis. Bob has a crew scheduled to be with us this year in late July-early August and stopped by for a face-to-face. Prior to meeting in Madison, Bob was kind enough to send me a couple of emails and information about using Powerpoint to prepare these Fishing Report templates that can be used during the season (and offseason) to acknowledge guests with a great catch etc. It's a great idea, and we say thanks again to Bob for providing us the background on how to do it and the templates for getting them done.




One of my first attempts at using the template Bob provided us! Not bad for a rookie?

Some of the templates Bob put together to show me:

We are looking forward to incorporating these templates into our Fishing Reports, Blog, Facebook group etc. as well as being able to provide a copy to selected guests throughout their stay in camp during the season with us. Not sure, as always, how much time will allow during the season--but it's easy to TALK about it now!

March will be here soon and it's never too early to double check those passport expiration dates. You don't want to be caught in a pinch near your trip time. On a closing note, the Ontario On-Line Licensing system feedback that we have received from guests who have used it, has been very positive. I have updated my license and Outdoors Card on-line using the system, and have also found it to be easy to use and hassle free. 

Until next time,



 

Show season about to start

Hi All,

Well since mother nature can't seem to provide enough cold temperatures to make any ice around here, I guess we might just as well go to work! Looks like another poor winter for ice fishing locally.

Although camp is booking up very nicely for the upcoming 2012 season, there are always some spots to fill and even a few really PRIME weeks still available, especially some September dates that always provide a great combination of numbers of fish and many trophies too.

January 12-15, I will be at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL for the Chicago All-Canada show and will leave there directly to Madison, WI where I will be January 16-18th. Maybe by the time I get back home (hopefully with a few booking in hand) there will be some hard water to work with and I will have a chance to wet (or ice) a line as the case may be. If you are reading the blog and are close to one of these show markets, stop by our booth for a visit and fishchat. Like I've always said: "if you can't get out and actually go fishing, might as well at least talk about it"!

Until next time,

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!