Awesome August...

It’s been go, go, go since our last post with nary a rainy day to hunker down and write a proper report. 

The second half of summer has been hot and dry with high chances of heavy fish.

Central Lake Trophy Walleye

Lots of great specimens have been boated since our last update. A 44” pike among other tanks out of West Lake, several 40+” pike and football shaped walleye out of Central, photo worthy fish and huge numbers at Cocos and Southwest, and at least FORTY trophy walleye (and several trophy pike) out of South Lake in the last month! Needless to say there’s been lots of big smiles.

The fish seem to be everywhere. Reports of gangbuster catches in anything from 3’ to 28’ of water for both walleye and pike have come in. Walleye have been found on shallow reefs, deep holes, and in the weed beds too. I can attest to the same after getting on the water yesterday afternoon – I was sight fishing walleye on a mid-bay hump in 3 – 5’ of water and then caught them at 22’ a short boat ride away. We also had top water walleye strikes while throwing bucktails and buzz baits for pike. The walleye are hungry! The pike were incredibly aggressive too, latching on to every 4^th or 5^th cast. A pair of brothers at Central last week boated both of these monsters. 

You’ll notice Burnt Lake is left out of the reports. Unfortunately, we’ve had to shut down operations there for the past few weeks as a large wildfire has picked up in intensity nearby. The cabin looks to be safe, but the shoreline that burnt in 2011 (taking the old cabin with it) has reburned along with several thousand acres to the north along the Manitoba border. We are hoping the weather pattern will change by next week and we will start to get some precipitation. Pilot Adam spent much of yesterday washing and waxing the airplane to try and coax in a sprinkle. Also of note, the water is down in all lakes about 4 feet from normal – currently the lowest I have ever seen it.

Central Lake Trophy Pike

The dry weather has led to a bumper blueberry crop, but the raspberries have been almost non-existent.

Numerous wildlife sightings continue with the moose starting to move. Bears have been seen (thankfully) far away from camp munching in berry patches. A troublesome squirrel with a sweet tooth has been harassing anyone with a candy bar at West Lake (rehoming efforts are currently underway). We got a great show of the blue, super moon last night, and northern light sightings are starting to become more common as the days grow a little shorter (current sunset at 8:30 pm with darkness setting in around 9:00pm).

It's hard to believe we only have another few weeks of the season to go. BUT, we’ll look to savor my favourite time of year up here with gold leaves beginning to emerge, some fantastic fishing no doubt, and (hopefully) a few rainy days to quench the fire.

Smoke rises from the Burnt Lake fire. 

Good luck and happy fishing,

Ryan

Mid-July, Oh My!

It’s hard to believe the most patriotic of both Canadian and US holidays have come and gone, but what a month of fishing!

30" Walleye South Lake

There are some absolute hogs being boated at all our lakes and the numbers are out of the park too (well actually IN the provincial park, but you know what I mean).

The last group out of South Lake reported several walleye in the mid to upper 20’s with one breaching the 30” mark.

Burnt Lake beat up on the big girls too with both trophy pike and walleye in the boat. Last week’s group also got into a mess of perch.

West Lake has seen several trophies of both species also.

Recent groups at Southwest reported a few mid-20’s walleye and one recent group caught 550 fish in just two hours (2 boats) and more than 3000 through the week!

I missed a report for the outgoing Cocos group, but we’ll try to catch up with the current guests later this week.

Suffice it to say, though, the fishing has been gang-busters!

Heck of a stinger out of SW

I haven’t heard of anything wild or new in the favorite lure category, a lot of silver and gold colored spoons, 3/8 oz jigs, and crankbaits are listed beside the trophy fish on the brag boards in camp.

Summer is in full swing with hot temps and (usually) brief afternoon thunder showers almost daily. Fortunately, they have been all benign save one big wind event we had three weeks ago.

With the hot temps, we are starting to see a mayfly hatch at Central, and presumably our other lakes too. I think they should be in full force the next few days with continued warm weather. It is usually a remarkably brief affair lasting a week or less. They are quite prolific, however, covering everything from the boats, motors, grills, cabins, to the airplane. They are supposed to be a strong indicator of a healthy ecosystem, so I guess we have that going for us. Which is nice.

We’re now staring down the back half of summer. The walleye should creep down deeper and form some dense schools. The pike will claim their turf in the weedbeds and cabbage – top water fun will ensue.

We did have one recent and unfortunate health related cancelation that frees up a week at Central,7/28 – 8/4. There is also one more opening this summer at South Lake: 8/18 – 8/25. Please reach out anytime if a last minute trip is in the cards for you.

South Lake 37"

Thanks so much for everyone that shared trip reports and photos. And thank you for reading and happy summer, everyone!

Time for shore lunch!

It's Summer (right?)!

It’s been a busy month since we first arrived at Central Lake to kick off the 2024 season at Big Hook!

We have been hard at work getting the cabins, boats, and equipment prepped for our guests – the first of whom often arrive within just a few days of us.

Winter was relatively kind to all our locations with the exception of Burnt Lake. Large frost heaves there necessitated some foundation work before we could even get in the cabin.

Things otherwise turned on and opened up well, and before we knew it, the business of reassembling the cabins was over and the lakes were buzzing with outboards and fishermen.

The spring weather has been another story. It has been a very cold and wet start to our season. We even got a good shot of snow! Just three weeks ago, we woke up to several inches blanketing the whole park.

Fortunately, the pattern seems to be changing and we are now parked under some high pressure with blue skies and (moderately) warmer temps. Upper 70’s are in the forecast by next week. It will feel good and maybe the chainsaw can have a rest.

The camps are now all open and busy. Reports have been coming in and the consensus is that the fish and bugs seem a little confounded by the weather too. There have been reports of white hot bites in 3’ of water. Other groups were working a little harder for their fish and finding them deeper (9-10’). Some this week reported walleyes still milting or egg laden (about a month late). Guests last week reported a spotty mayfly hatch (about a month early). Confusing.

Many of our regular guests that return to the same lake, same week are simply stating that the fish are busy and active, but just not where they have found them in year’s past. 

I’ve only had the chance to wet a line a few times myself, but did make it out for an hour or on Wednesday in preparation for the weekly Central Lake fish fry. I took Maria and new pilot, Adam, to a spot right near camp I have caught an easy supper at in mid-Junes gone by. Nothing. I cast a little closer towards shore and my jig was immediately slammed. We moved the boat a few feet from the rocks and caught the 5 we needed for dinner in about 5 minutes.

In addition to our stringer full, there have been reports of lots trophy fish being boated too. South Lake reeled in a 28” walleye on a hot’n tot. Cocos lake has a 27.5” and a few more at 25” on the board too. The current Central Lake group also has a walleye tied largest to date at 28” (3/8 oz jig). We’ve heard about several pike in the upper 30 – lower 40 inch range. At least one pike in the 40’s was boated during West Lake’s opening week 5/26-6/2 and “lots of northerns from 33"-41" the week after. Some successful lures were a 4” 5 of Diamonds and a twister tail tipped silver minnow.

For folks tracking other seasonal patterns up here, the black flies have come and gone – a very short season for them. The mosquitos are fierce right now, but seem stunted in their growth. What they lack in size, they certainly seem to be making up with in numbers. The pollen has come off the pines (it looked like a dust storm early this week). All the deciduous leaves are popped and trees are looking full. Lots of wildlife are out and about; several black bears and moose have been spotted. Water levels started off much higher than I anticipated (the second highest I have ever seen when we first arrived), but have been going down quickly despite all the precipitation (I wonder it some trees fell or ice blocks formed a damn below Cocos which have since given way). And, there has yet to be a wildfire in Northwestern Ontario (knock on wood).

We’re looking forward to settling in to what should be an outstanding summer.

I will do my best to keep updates and fresh reports coming for those with travels pending. There are one or two open weeks towards the end of our season if anyone is thinking of a trip still. For those that have recently been to Big Hook, please don’t be shy about emailing us some pictures – we love to share them.

Thanks so much for reading and happy summer everyone!