All she wrote...

 

C-FXZK soaks in the Northern Lights

Our 2023 season at Big Hook is officially a wrap!

    It was an outstanding one by all measures - probably my favorite to date. But with fall in the air, one needs to know when to say “when,” and the time has most certainly come.

    We were in the full throws of autumn when Ripp and I departed Central Lake for Winnipeg last week. The leaves were peaking, birds heavy into their migration, and the fish chomping away trying to put on a few more ounces each before the colder months really set in.

    I was fortunate to spend the last week with just the dog and I as the only inhabitants of Opasquia Park – at least the only (semi) domesticated ones. We ticked away at some projects, got a lot of overdue office work done, and snuck in some fishing for ourselves too.

The final fish of 2023

With the declining water temps, the fish had moved a little shallower (8 – 12’) but continued to be voracious. We caught supper in no time – one evening we never left the dock!

    High winds kept me from casting my fly rod for pike, but our final guests of the year reported continued fast action with at least a few trophies out of Central and West Lakes. A perch colored spinner bait was their hot lure.

    Before Maria and Peter departed, we ticked of several bigger projects including leveling and straightening the foundation piers at Burnt Lake and constructed a new motor shed at Central.

    The business of closing down all the camps is always a little somber, but freshly painted floors and heaps of cut firewood will be waiting for our season opener in 8 short months.

    I will look to send out our annual holiday card in the coming months, but hope to do a bit of a season recap by the numbers (fish caught, lbs of potatoes consumed, beers crushed, etc…). Please let me know if you / your group has any special stories that should be included. Please also send me any pics that
you’d care to share – we love seeing them!    Speaking of, we got a big batch of historical photos from one of our longtime guests now into their 4th generation of Big Hook’ers. Thanks so much, Matt, for sending in those gems.

Central Lake 1986

     With the season officially wrapped up, I want to extend my most sincere thanks to everyone who came to visit us this year. It was a great summer, and, I for one, am already looking forward to next!

    Speaking of, our calendar is down to just a handful of open weeks. If you are thinking of a trip to Big Hook, please reach out asap so we can be sure to get you on the calendar. Enjoy the colder months everyone!

Till next year Big Hook,

Ryan

Ripp helps lookout for geese

Everyone is hungry!

Beautiful fall

Where does the time go...

Where does the time go…

    It’s easy to fall into a groove up at Big Hook: fish, eat, sleep, repeat… For our guests, the weeks are almost always too short. For our staff, it’s the same story with the whole summer. We have just a few precious weeks of our season to go. Boy it’s a magnificent time to be up here, though – we will savor it.

    The weather has been near perfect. Highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 50’s have meant comfortable weather on the water and about the best sleeping conditions in the evening that one could ask for. Our days are getting noticeably shorter with real darkness setting in around 10pm now. The stars here never disappoint – they are as vivid and bold as I have seen anywhere. We’ve gotten a few glimpses of the northern lights too.

    We’ve been fortunate to have a few great family groups in recent weeks – it’s so fun watching kids getting HOOKED on fishing and the outdoors. And, often times, they catch the biggest fish of the trip!

    Speaking of fishing: it has been great!

    I have had the chance to get out on the water quite a bit the past two weeks. We hosted Troy Lindner and a production of his show, The Canadian Experience, last week. We fished lots and had an all-around spectacular time. The episode will air this spring and should be available on the Sportsman Channel, The World Fishing Network, and YouTube. I will look to get more details in time for our holiday mailer and make sure to post a head up on our social platforms too.

    We banged up on the walleye for sure and boated some nice pike also. Most of the walleye were caught snap jigging 1/4 – 3/8 oz jig heads with 3” swimbait tails – orange, purple, and perch colors were particularly productive.

    For the northern, a white Bucktail spinner was the favourite, and definitely got lots of attention; the skirt on his first was cut so short from all the pike in the first two days that it definitely would have been sent home from Catholic School. As a few other guests have noted, pike were not as interested as usual for top water lures for reasons unknown.

    Other guests had great luck with spoons like 5 of Diamonds and Johnson silver minnows in Red / White and Gold.

    Several 40” ‘ers have been reported including the last pike that Troy and I caught which was right at the mark.

    We did get a full, and much needed, day of rain Wednesday – I am estimating a full 2 inches, although a more precise measurement is not available due to a dog vs. rain gauge fight here at Central. It turns our Ripp still has some puppy in him. The rain brought the water levels up some, but they are still low. It seems that most of it soaked right up in the soil – it was getting pretty dry around here previously.

    We’ll hope for some more soon (just not during your stay for our customers with a remaining 2023 reservation). Hopefully that will give me the chance to get out one more update before we wrap up our season.

    It’s crazy thinking about 2024 already, but that calendar is filling up fast. Now’s the time to start thinking about Big Hook ’24. Please reach out by phone or email if you have any questions or would like to make a reservation.

    Thanks so much and happy August everyone!

Full Swing...

    Summer is definitely in full swing up at Big Hook: The temps (both lake and air) are comfortably warm. The springtime insects have moderated – I can’t remember the last time I put on bug spray. Weed beds are developing and starting to reach the surface in areas. AND, the fish tallies are REALLY adding up.

South Lake Tank!

    Since our last report, guests have boated dozens of trophy fish, including many pike over 40” and our first walleye over 30” on the year.

    That tank, pictured here, was caught on a 2” rainbow colored Hot’n Tot trolled over a gentle rise at South Lake.

   First time guest, Sam, boated this beauty 42.5” pike on a Mepp’s Giant Killer at West Lake. The same group boated more than a half dozen other trophies with several walleye in the upper 20's and pike right at the 40" mark. 

    Guests across our locations have noted the mayfly hatch is already on the tail end of the event. It’s the earliest I’ve ever witnessed the phenomena. It apparently didn’t slow down fishing much. The outgoing group at Southwest, a couple from Minnesota, caught more than 3000 fish during their two week stay. For those that don’t want to get out their calculators, that’s an average of more than 100 fish / person every day for 14 days (and I know they enjoyed plenty of time off the water too)!

West Lake 42.5"

    With the mayflies having come and gone, the fish should be ravenous the next few weeks as they have expanded their bellies and need to refill. We’re sure to get into mid-summer patterns too, with walleye schooled up on deeper reefs and northern staking out their territory around the weed beds.

    I’ve gotten lots of questions about the wildfire smoke up here. We’re very fortunate to have had just 1 or 2 semi-smokey days. The smoke from the big fires out west gets swept down to the Great Lakes region and Midwest by the jet stream, so really doesn’t affect us. There are a few smaller fires closer to Red Lake and Sioux Lookout that has made for some hazy days further to our south but none of that has drifted up here yet. Unfortunately, all reports are that the situation is much worse for many of our guests back home, south of the border. Come up to Big Hook and get some fresh air!

    I can’t believe we’re staring down July already. Happy Canada Day to all the locals and happy 4^th of July for all our American friends. ALSO, a huge thanks to our guests that sent in photos from their trip!

Till next time,

Ryan

Central Lake Gator!

Off to the races for 2023...

    A fond hello to all from Big Hook Wilderness Camps in Opasquia Provincial Park for our inaugural update / post of the 2023 season. 

    While the calendar suggests summer just started a few days ago, it seems like we’ve had a season’s worth of fun and excitement in just the 4 short weeks since we arrived. 

Ryan, Ripp, and our 30th fish...

    

    Camp dog, Ripp, and I made Central Lake on May 14th – about two days after the ice out. Camp manager, Maria, and our new pilot, mechanic, jack of all trades, and finder of things that Maria and I have misplaced, Peter, arrived the next day. 

    

    We found all the camps in good repair and quickly got to the business of getting all the cabins open and boats rigged – our first guests arrived less than a week later on May 21. 

    Fortunately, these fishermen were targeting Northern Pike almost exclusively. The Walleye were still finishing their spawn, and as such, pretty finicky. At Central Lake, the Northern fishing was off the charts, however. Guests in that group boated every length of fish on the tape measure, they said, right on up through a 42”. Their only complaint was sore arms and shoulders from reeling in so many. We helped soothe these woes with the inaugural sauna / lake plunge combo. 

    Guests reported the Northern were going hard after top water baits and congregated wherever there was moving water. Their hottest lure was a blue and white Jitterbug. By the end of the week, the Walleye emerged from their post spawn lull and the Walleye fishing has been WHITE HOT ever since. Several groups reported catches of hundreds of fish per day – the type of fishing where you can’t even get your jig to the bottom before you’ve tied into another. 

All that was left of my jig...

    I got out for a short bit myself last night and boated 30 fish in 30 minutes. What was left of my 3/8 oz jig pictured here. 

 In addition to the standard jig and twister tail combo, guests were having great success with size 2 – 3 Mepps spinners and mid range Husky Jerks. 

    Guests and staff last week bore witness one other spectacle: a lightning strike started a small wildfire that quickly grew to nearly 30,000 acres smack dab in the middle of Opasquia Park. Fortunately, we got a moderate amount of rain just as the fire was transitioning from a wonder to a worry. It was tamped down almost entirely by the initial precip, and should be out completly now – the time to write this was afforded by the inch of rain we got overnight last night and is lingering into this morning, grounding our plane for the time being. 

The Opasquia Wildfire.

    I haven’t received any guest fish photos yet – perhaps another result of the sore muscles noted above. If you’re fresh off a trip to Big Hook, please email your photos to info@bighookcamps.com or post them to our blog, Facebook, or Instagram account (#bighookcamps). 

    It’s been a great start to the season and we’re looking forward to the rest of the summer – it’s going too fast already. 

    If you’re still on the fence about a last minute trip in 2023, we have a few sporadic openings and are now starting to take reservations for early season 2024.

A memorial gathering for Tom Brotherston in 
Sandy Lake, complete with fish fry. 

 Best to all and thanks for reading, 

 Ryan