Revved up…

West Lake walleye!

As we stare down the third week of June, we now have all the camps open and full. It’s always a good feeling when the opening work is done. Now we can transition to upkeep and improvements - and maybe sneak in a little fishing ourselves.

Most all of our cabins and facilities wintered well. Southwest, the last to open, came with the most challenges. An angry bear seemed to have taken out his angst on the cabin, tearing out every screen and also a good portion of the plumbing and sewer lines. Mother nature (at least I hope it was wind and not the bear) also toppled over a giant tree that we found leaning in the path the airplanes need to taxi / dock. Fortunately, all were fairly easy fixes and with a few swipes of the chainsaw and some replacement pipes, all our camps were fully operational.

The weather has been all over the place since my last report (it was snowing at that time). We’ve had hot, cold, mist, snow, wind, calm, smoke, clouds, and sun. What we haven’t had much of is rain. Fortunately, there is some in the forecast, which would be very welcomed.

Adam considers a jump into the lake. 

I’ve fielded several inquiries about the fire situation up here. As many may have read about in the news, Sandy Lake was evacuated due to a fire that started near Deer Lake, another First Nations community about 40 miles SW of Sandy Lake. That fire traveled very quickly and burnt more than 700 square miles of terrain. Fortunately, it stopped just a few kilometers away from Sandy Lake, which was evacuated as a precaution. While the fire isn’t completely out it is substantially subdued, getting just enough precipitation and favorable winds.

Closer to home, we did have a fire that started due to a lightning strike just outside the SW boundary of Opasquia Provincial Park. It was nearest to our Burnt Lake cabin. That fire gave myself and a few guests at Burnt a little bit of a fright, but again, we thankfully received just enough rain to tamp it down and winds that have not allowed it to travel any closer to our camps.

Toothy smiles!

Significant rain is expected in the next few days and will hopefully put out both fires entirely.

The fishing hot spots have been slightly unpredictable, but after a little searching, the catches have been predictably outstanding. With low later levels a lot of the small feeder creeks, typical June go-to spots, have not been producing quite like they normally do. With the water temps still pretty cold (surface temps are just starting to break 60F), fish are still relating to shallow mud flats and large boulders that soak up the sun. Most are being found in 4-8’ of water.

Some highlights so far include a 43” pike and several more in the upper 30’s at West Lake. A few 27” walleyes were boated at West Lake also. This week’s group at South Lake already has 10+ trophy walleye, the largest measuring 28.5”. A 40” pike started the tally at Central on week one, and since, guests have pulled in several around that length and at least one 28” walleye. This week’s guests at Southwest lost count of their fish by Sunday afternoon (their first day on the water). Cocos also had a few large pike on the “brag board”.  

Sunny skies and walleyes...

Hot baits and lures have included: Mepp’s Black Fury Spinners, orange jig heads tipped with Berkley Power Minnows and Ripple Shad, and Storm Hot N Tot’s in metallic gold and chartreuse.

I’ve only gotten a handful of photos back from guests so far this year. If you were recently fishing with us and want show off a fish or two, I, our incoming guests, and those that can no longer join us, love seeing your photos! Please don’t be shy 😉.

It’s great to be in the full swing of things and looking forward to most of the summer ahead. We have had a few random cancelations, so if you are thinking of a late hour trip, please reach out and we’ll see if any of them might suit.

Otherwise, have a great summer and good luck on the water everyone!