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